Uchihas don't play shogi
by velvet-prosthesis
Summary: Itachi had it all. But all that he had was about to be shattered the day his younger brother turned fourteen. AU, ItaSasu. HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**W****arning:** Incest, Slash. AU - Modern Japan. Rated M/NC-17 for mature themes, implicit/explicit sexual scenes, expletives and mild violence. There is a scene with non-consensual sex.

**Official(Fantastic) Editor**: YaoiSmutMaster.

**Note:** This first chapter hadn't been edited yet. It also needs revision, as I believe it has a lot of grammatical errors. I'll replaced with the revised/edited chapter as soon as I can.

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Chapter 1: Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also

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Itachi had it all.

He was more attractive than your average runaway male model. He was more intelligent than the best college A student. He could be more charismatic than your favorite actor if he wanted to. He was more eloquent then the president of your country. His girlfriend was hotter than your high school's prom queen.

Even his friends were better than yours.

Yes, he had it all. All that you ever wanted and you'll never had.

Everybody admired him, envied him, loved him. Everybody wanted to be like him, or his friend, talk to him or at least touch him. He was a prodigy, the proud of all the Uchiha family, the proud of any school he stepped in.

Itachi had it all. But all that he had was about to be shattered the day his younger brother turned fourteen.

Sasuke was not as bright as Itachi. His social skills weren't exactly the best, and he did not have a flawless behave in public like his brother did, much to his parents' disappointment. Actually, Sasuke was starting to develop a more careless attitude that somewhat pissed his father off. During one of Uchiha's political parties, the kid was even rude to one of the guests. Itachi was never rude to people. He wasn't that nice either, but he always maintained the perfect composure and never disrespected anyone. Sasuke wasn't perfect like Itachi.

The kid wasn't even achieving the same results at school as Itachi. The older brother graduated high school at age 15; Sasuke, although still the best of his class, was still not working hard enough to graduate at an impressive age as his brother. Fugaku didn't understand: either the kid was lazy, or he was dumb, there could be no other explanation for Sasuke to be still in junior school like the rest of the kids of his age. One thing was sure: Fugaku did not raise lazy Uchihas!

Sasuke's friends weren't even as graceful and admirable as Itachi's. Yes, Fugaku noticed that too, disappointed. Itachi's best friend was an Uchiha, and his other closer friends came from notorious families. It even made Fugaku proud seeing his son with them. Sasuke didn't have any friend until he hit puberty, and maybe that's because he was considered until then a promising kid, always idolizing Itachi and wanting to be just like him (which gave Fugaku hopes in having another prodigy).

But at thirteen, Sasuke started to hang around with an orphan kid, and slowly, he abandoned his brother's leg and began to care less about mimicking Itachi, adopting a freer attitude. Mikoto immediately noticed her son's behavior change, and suggested to invite his friend over dinner. Sasuke did, and the family met his first friend.

Fugaku didn't like him. Naruto didn't have the same grace and politeness and Itachi's friends . He also didn't have a name. Who the hell are the Uzumakis? He was a nobody. An obnoxious, loud and stupid nobody. It ashamed the Uchiha father that his own son liked to hang around with such a disgraceful creature.

Sasuke didn't socialize with girls, except for one, that Mikoto saw one day. She had pink hair.

_Pink _hair!

Itachi's girlfriend was an extremely intelligent and beautiful girl with long silky black hair, born in an extremely rich family. If they ever get married – which Fugaku was already counting on – they would have beautiful intelligent kids and an immeasurable wealth. The only girl that Sasuke talked to, which automatically makes her (for now) the only potential future carrier of his seed, had to be born in a plain family, with plain looks except for that tremendous mass of _pink _on top of her hair. Fugaku didn't even want to imagine his grandsons born with that hair color. Why couldn't his youngest son associate himself with that Hyuuga girl in his class? Sure she wasn't very bright, but at least she had a damn good name and a decent hair color!

Yes, Sasuke was revealing himself to be a lost case little by little. He and his father argued a lot, especially about Sasuke's companies. Fugaku accused Naruto and Sakura to be the source of his slackening at school, the reason why Sasuke didn't want to graduate quickly like Itachi and take things in time instead.

Sasuke didn't listen. Worst, he was beginning to_ reply_ to his father. He said he wasn't Itachi, and never will be. Fugaku said that was because of his friends, Sasuke had the potential too. And the brat said the words that any respectful father didn't deserve to hear:

"I don't want to."

"What?"

"You heard me. I don't want to be like Itachi. I'm not a kid anymore, I'm tired of following him everywhere only to be ignored. I'm tired of trying to impress everybody."

"If you'd study more you could've impress me."

"I don't want to kill myself studying just so you could brag your friends that your other son graduated high school at 15 too! I want to enjoy life."

All plans Fugaku had for his younger son shattered to pieces right that moment when Sasuke said those words. He wants to _enjoy life_.

The doctor told that was normal, it's called 'adolescence'. In adolescence, the hormones sometimes take place in kids' rational thinking and their nervous system enters in constant changes. Adolescents get confused, depressed, overjoyed, and suddenly want to explore everything in life. But Fugaku wasn't convinced. Itachi never had that adolescence identity crisis and never rebelled against his father, as Sasuke was doing right now. The Uchihas don't have that. Hormones were for common people, and the Uchihas weren't common people. Sasuke was behaving like common people, and that was somewhat shameful for the family.

Sasuke wasn't at all perfect like Itachi. However, he had one thing, one thing in which he was achieving perfectness like his older brother, in his own and surprising way.

It was his looks. It may not count much for the pride of Fugaku, but ironically, it was probably that quality that made the Uchiha's number decrease dramatically. Aqualitythat culminated into almost absolute perfection when he made fourteen years old.

Sasuke was beautiful, as Itachi was. His hair was lustrous and silky like Itachi's, his mouth was perfectly drawn and velvet like Itachi, his eyes were sharp dark like Itachi's, his body proportions where of absolute symmetry and harmony. Like Itachi. His growth developed in the boy more and more resemblance with his older brother.

And his skin was just flawless; he didn't have any Uchiha mark. Every Uchiha male had a mark on their faces, resembling wrinkles. Like a birth mark. Itachi had two soft wrinkles on each side of his nose, which looked good on him. Fugaku had it on his chin. Madara had them under his eyes. Sasuke didn't have any.

Sasuke also got all of his mother's genes, the most beautiful woman in the family (and probably the entire country), while Itachi inherited some of his father's genes. This came to distinguish the two brothers in outer looks and facial characteristics. For example, Sasuke had more androgynous features, although he was still pretty masculine. One time he decided to let grow his hair (a secret attempt to look more like his brother, but of course he didn't tell anyone) only to get his best friend laughing at him saying how he looked like a girl. He never let his hair grow pass his jaw line since then.

Anyway, Sasuke's raven hair had rare blue shadows like his mother's, while Itachi hair was more of a brownish black like Fugaku. The younger's skintone was paler and shinier, like his mother. His nipples were pink (like Mikoto's). Itachi's nipples were brownish.

The brothers did have their sticking differences.

So, when Sasuke made fourteen, and his body still in development was already breathtaking, Itachi started to look at him with other eyes. Or better speaking: with other part of his body.

At first, Itachi didn't pay much attention. He found himself staring at Sasuke longer than usual. Wanting to talk to him more than usual. Urging to…touch him.

In a caring way, of course.

His baby brother was becoming a man, and the physical changes were rather hypnotizing. Itachi wasn't gay, but he wasn't blind either. And the physical attraction his baby brother was protruding each passing year was just an imminent fact.

So unconsciously, the prodigy started spending more time with his little brother than he used to. Sasuke, although he declared no longer a mindless follower of Itachi, he was happier than ever. And he smiled more – an action that was rarer since he hit puberty.

Oh how Itachi loved that smile. The pure and genuine smile, unique of Sasuke, that used to be a dominant expression when he was little but now he never showed it. He still smiled like that to Itachi, but to other people he'd generally give them a blunt face. Not even for his obnoxious friend he smiled like that (that one was lucky to get a smirk). Itachi noticed, Sasuke's innocent beautiful smile was only for him and nobody else. And that was probably one of the few things that made him feel powerful.

But back to business, it was in Sasuke's fourteen birthday that everything started. It was customary for the Uchihas to have a birthday party with all the family, like an annual rite of transition that the celebrated Uchiha had to endure. That's why Sasuke hated birthdays; it was when he had to thank all the morons of the family for their useless gifts and politely listen to when they comment they expect another Itachi. Every 23 of July he was reminded, not only by his father but by the whole family too, that he had an older brother to catch up with. He had to please them.

And he didn't want to.

The only good thing about birthdays was that Itachi would spend more time with him. Itachi was still his idol.

Since Sasuke made twelve years old he started to build a tougher outlook to uncover his real emotions and desires. Especially when he met Naruto: he wanted to look always in his best self, confident and dignified, just so the daring blond would know who he's dealing with. It's called pride. Every Uchiha had it, and he was no exception. Maybe that's why he stopped following Itachi everywhere: his pride wouldn't let him anymore.

However, no matter how much pride he had, he was still honestly delighted when Itachi gave him attention, and forgot to put up with the cold mask he wore with everyone.

And every birthday, after dinner when the whole family left the house, he would choose a movie to watch with Itachi in his room. Not only they spent two entire hours together, Sasuke sometimes fell asleep (intentionally or not) in Itachi's bed. And his brother let him stay there. Sasuke knew he was getting too old to sleep in his brother's bed, but it just felt nice.

It was the only time he felt closer to Itachi.

And on that 23 of July, Itachi was really looking for that time alone with Sasuke too. He didn't really understand why. Maybe because he hadn't spent time at all with his younger brother for months, since he was busy with his master degree (nineteen years old and already in a post graduation degree, he truly was a genius). Although he would never admit to anyone, he did miss that time with Sasuke.

And finally that time arrived, their family was gone into their houses, Mikoto was cleaning the kitchen and Fugaku was drinking his whisky in the living room. Itachi climbed the stairs up to his room, not surprised for seeing Sasuke already putting a movie inside his DVD player.

"What are we watching?" He asked. He walked to his bed and adjusted the pillows against the headboard.

"_American Psycho_." Sasuke replied, while he looked for the remote. "They told me it's really cool."

"Hm." Itachi picked the DVD cover abandoned on his bed. Noticing the age rating, he commented, jokingly: "Aren't you a bit young to watch this?"

"Shut up." Sasuke snorted. He found the remote and began to prepare the movie.

Itachi put the DVD cover aside and sat on the bed against one of the pillows. Soon after Sasuke joined him, sitting beside his brother against the other pillow, and with the remote he put the movie on.

They both remained still, watching the TV screen player unroll the movie scenes. Sasuke was concentrated. Itachi was pretending to watch.

The older boy found himself entertained in watching his little brother's amusing expressions of concentration and anticipation for the next scene. Sasuke, with his shining obsidian eyes wide opened, his relaxed mouth slightly detached, and the TV light projected on his pale face…he's once cute baby brother was honestly becoming shockingly attractive. Itachi couldn't stop staring. And Sasuke noticed.

"…What?" He asked, a bit tensed. That wasn't normal, his older brother looking at him for more than five seconds.

"I'm just looking at you." Itachi replied, smiling. "I guess you're becoming a good-looking man."

Sasuke twitched, surprised with the comment. A little pinkness colored his cheeks, and with eyes still set on the TV, he mumbled:

"Don't say that…"

"Why not?"

"It's weird."

Itachi frowned. "It's weird that I'm not blind?"

Sasuke felt his face getting warmer, and he knew he was blushing. He didn't know why he was blushing, he only knew he didn't want to blush in front of his brother. Heck, he didn't want to blush in front of anybody. The room was a bit dark but with that pale skin of him he sure knew his brother saw the blush.

Itachi, on the other hand, was enjoying the sight. His little brother looked adorable when he blushed. Two pink cheekbones on that pale perfect face was…strangely stimulating. And his lips, closed in a nervous line, suddenly looked so succulent. What kind of girl would he let kiss those luscious lips?

…Or what kind of boy?

Who knows, Sasuke could be gay (it was nothing to be ashamed of, even if their father tended to call gay people a "freak of nature"). He sure had been hanging around a lot with the Uzumaki kid. Maybe they were more than friends.

Itachi unconsciously imagined his perfect little brother kissing another guy. Would he make the first step? Or let himself be seduced? He imagined those velvet lips, opening slightly and letting a stranger's tong explore that inviting wet cave…he wondered if Sasuke's moans would sound as arousing as his humid pink lips were…

His cock pulsed. Itachi flinched, and 'woke up' from his improper thoughts. What the hell was he thinking? He had been half of the movie imagining his little brother French kissing another guy, for God's sake! His little bro-

Oh _fuck_. He was hard. He was fucking hard for…imaging…Sasuke…

'_For fuck's sake I'm not gay._' He grunted to himself. His hard-on was paining against his jeans. '_I have a girlfriend. I fucked her. I want to fuck my girlfriend, not my brother. That's disgusting._'

He silently performed breathing exercises to calm his erection, and tried to concentrate on the movie. Why was he even convincing himself that he was not gay? _Of course_ he wasn't, that's not even debatable!

Taking in a deep breath he finally felt his cock calming down inside his jeans, and his aching groin cooling off. He looked at Sasuke just to confirm that he was still too concentrated on the movie, and rapidly repented in doing it. Sasuke had again his mouth slightly detached, his eyes wide opened. The brat should be prohibited of doing that expression. He looked too…

Itachi jolted from the bed, surprising Sasuke. Without warning, he crossed half the room towards his en-suite bathroom and locked himself in. He couldn't fucking believe he was hard again. He still heard his little brother asking: "Do you want me to stop the movie?" Probably thought that Itachi was only going to take a pee, not to relieve himself.

Itachi shouted to not-to-worry-with-him through the door while he let his body lean against the wall, in front of the mirror. He unzipped his jeans and embraced his big erection with his right hand. Shutting his eyes, he forced images of his girlfriend lustful and naked begging for sex, and began the stroking ritual.

But… that didn't seem to be very helpful in relieving that rocky hard-on. No, what he instinctively started to imagine, and his hand started to move up and down powered by those images, and his cock –oh! – was so loving that fantasized sensation… was his little brother's perfect velvet lips, kissing his erection with a blush on his face, licking it, opening his mouth slowly and taste it whole like it was a delicious lollipop, moaning seductively and begging for more…hmm, that'd be…so good…oh…

And then he came, _hard_, like he was sexually inactive for years, his seed spilling messily on the white tiles of the floor.

Panting, he let himself fall sit on the floor.

He couldn't believe what had just happened. He jerked off imagining…his baby brother giving him a blowjob. Not only he fell ashamed of himself, he also felt sick. Sick that he actually had incestuous thoughts with Sasuke.

The two knocks on the door almost made him jump of scare. He was so absorbed in his thoughts about the shameful act he just did, that he didn't heard his little brother pausing the movie and crossing the room to knock on the bathroom's door. Itachi noticed now that he had been locked for quite a while. Sasuke's voice was heard from the other side: "Nii-san…are you ok?"

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise. Sasuke didn't call him nii-san for a long time. After he turned 12, Itachi paid him less and less attention due to university responsibilities and Sasuke, probably tired of being ignored, stopped being around him all the time. He soon made friends and started calling Itachi by his name on the rare occasions they spent time together.

"Just a minute, Sasuke." He quickly grabbed a piece of toilet paper to clean his fluids off the floor, still thinking about the name his brother just called him. He smiled. It sounded warm and sweat coming from his brother mouth. His brother beautiful mouth…

'_STOP! He's your fucking brother!_' This couldn't go on. Something was wrong with him.

He convinced himself it had to be the lack of sex in this past month. He had a lot of work to do, barely saw his girlfriend. Tomorrow, he would go straight to a hotel with his girlfriend and resolve this embarrassing issue by screwing her senseless. Yes, that would do.

But now he had to get reed of Sasuke and take a good night sleep before he had another unwanted erection. So he certified everything was in order and opened his bathroom door, facing his brother's confused expression.

"I'm fine. Sorry." Itachi replied. He eyed the TV screen flashing the image of the movie paused. "I'm a bit tired. Can we watch this some other time?"

He could see Sasuke's disappointment in his eyes, although he uncovered it pretty well.

"Sure. I'm tired too." Sasuke said, pretending he didn't care. And to prove his point, he yawned and stretch himself, letting his wrinkled white shirt with the last two buttons undone show his flat pale stomach. Some abdomen muscles were beginning to form. Sasuke was inevitably turning himself into a very good-looking man. "Can I…?"

He didn't finish the question.

"What?" Itachi asked, mentally cursing himself for staring at his brother's stomach.

Sasuke didn't know how to say. He felt awkward asking to his brother to sleep in his bed with that age. He also felt embarrassed but hey, it was only one more time. He just wanted to spend a bit more time with his brother since he didn't want to watch the movie. Tomorrow, Itachi would submerge himself in his studies again, or spend all his time with his girlfriend, or hang out with his friends…and their little time together would be gone.

"I was just wondering…uh…may I…stay here… a bit more?" He mumbled, looking to his feet.

Oh no. Itachi realized what he wanted: sleep in his bed. Like he did every day of his birth. Not that he minded Sasuke sleeping in his bed, but not today. Not when he had just masturbated on the image of his brother sucking on him. He couldn't do it.

"Sorry Sasuke, I need to be alone now. I'm not feeling very well."

The younger boy gazed at his brother in surprise. He didn't remember a time when his brother was 'not feeling well'. Itachi never revealed anything about his well-being. Was it something bad?

"Don't worry." Itachi, as if he was reading his mind, smiled in comfort. "It's nothing serious. Now, go to your room."

Sasuke sighed, disappointed. It was the first time Itachi shoved him off of his room in his birthday. It wouldn't surprise Sasuke if he just got tired of him. Well, he was growing up and really needed to be less clingy to his brother. The cheerless boy headed to the DVD player to eject the disk and put it in its cover. He said goodbye to his brother and stepped out of his room, carefully closing the door.

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Review? _Ja_?_ Nein_?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Out of a dog's mouth will never come ivory tusks

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His girlfriend always picked a five star elite hotel when they wanted to have sex without the worry of being bothered. They both still lived with their respective families, after all.

She liked _making love_, in expensive Indian silk sheets with brocade pillows. That mourning, she wanted the sheets and pillows in a room with a very high view over the city. Itachi just wanted to screw. Especially that day, he really wanted to fuck her senseless.

Last night he had dreamt of his little brother. The dream was a super erotic one, where he had stripped Sasuke down, fully exposing his naked beauty, and kissed him senseless. He licked and sucked everywhere; he tasted every bit of ivory skin. Each time he used his mouth, Sasuke moaned in extreme pleasure.

It was really weird though; the background was all a blur and even Sasuke's body wasn't very clear. Only his eyes were distinct like shinning obsidian orbs, gazing at him with pure lust. Itachi was like a ravaging beast all over the boy, uncontrollable. He just couldn't take his mouth off that hot skin; with the feel of a huge itch in his groin the whole time.

He woke up extremely aroused with a painful erection, still hearing the excited moans of his brother. As soon as he had touched his hard cock, he came profusely on his clean sheets.

So he was eager to screw his girlfriend and become the healthy heterosexual non-incestuous male he used to be. This…bizarre, immoral attraction towards his own blood was just an episode, an embarrassing outcome of his stressful life. He needed to be reminded of what he truly likes.

If only things were that simple.

In the hotel room, when he looked at his girlfriend undressing, he noticed how raven her hair was. Raven with indigo shades, like Sasuke's. He honestly never paid that much attention to her, she was just a good female to carry around. She was the one that seemed to contribute the most to the 'love' thing required for a relationship.

Itachi realized some time ago that he could never bring himself to love her; he just lacked that necessary emotion that connected lovers and families. He did not love his parents or his little brother. Although, he could sincerely say, and with the exception of the last shameful episodes with his rebellious cock, that he preferred to spend a whole day with his little brother, rather than with anybody else. He didn't know why, but Sasuke…never failed to amuse him.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" She broke into his thoughts, surprised that her cold boyfriend remained still fully dressed staring at her without apparent reason. She blushed, happy for the long-awaited attention he was suddenly giving her.

She didn't look as cute as Sasuke when she blushed, he noticed.

"Your hair…" He walked towards her and grabbed a lock of her raven hair.

She blushed harder. Itachi never revealed fascination for anything about her. She knew she was gorgeous, everyone was constantly reminding her of it. Unfortunately, the only person she wanted to compliment her looks never expressed anything. This was strangely the first time.

"You like it?"

He nodded.

She smiled, widely.

And then he said, blankly: "Would you cut it off?"

She winced, completely confused. Why was he asking her to…cut off something he liked?

Itachi didn't exactly know what he was doing, he only knew he wanted to see that hair cut off…

By the jaw line.

"I want to see your hair…",he touched her jaw line, near her chin. " …about here. Would you do it?"

She didn't know what to say. She was proud of her long silky hair, and it took a long time to grow. Cutting if off was a big deal.

"Why do you want me to cut it off?"

Itachi thought about what would be a good excuse he could use to convince her.

"Because I like short hair better. And I think it would suit you. Would you do it? For me?"

She bit her lip and had pondered. She wondered why Itachi didn't tell her sooner that he liked short hair, but she guessed that it didn't matter. If he wanted her to cut off her beloved hair, she would do it for him, because she loved him.

"Sure, I'll cut if off." She had put her arms around his neck, smiled, and tiptoed to kiss him.

"Now."

He remained still, looked down on his girlfriend stoically.

She frowned, bewildered by her boyfriend's behavior.

"You want me to cut it now?"

"Yes."

She recoiled, and gazed silently at Itachi. She waited for him to say something else like 'hey, I'm kidding'. He didn't say anything, just stood there unaffected. He looked at her with a solemn expression.

Waiting for her to do it.

She called the reception for a pair of scissors, and rapidly someone arrived to their room with the requested object. She grabbed them and went to the bathroom. She began cutting her lovely hair. It had pained her. Hair can be the most valuable asset for a woman, and there she was, cutting it…she tried not to cry, and remained expressionless during the painful act.

Long strands of hair fell on the washstand with imprecise cuts. Through the mirror image, she saw that Itachi had appeared behind her. He looked at her hand with the scissors gripped nervously. He touched the edge of the hair already cut, by her shoulder, and with the other hand he grabbed the scissors.

"May I?" He asked, still with the same solemn expression.

She nodded. If that was what he wanted, she would let him do it.

He started cutting her hair, shorter than she had previously. He had done it quickly and professionally, although he did not have any hairdressing experience. She just waited for him to finish the cut he wanted.

When he had finished, he turned on the faucet, watered his hands and molded the back of her hair, pulling it backwards. While doing so, he noticed her roots were lighter than the rest of the hair. He stopped and gazed down on her with a frown.

"I dyed my hair." She said, clearing his doubt.

He looked at her through the mirror image, a bit surprised that he had not noticed.

"I started dying it, a few months ago. My hair is brown, by the way. Looks like you don't remember the original color."

She gulped her frustration away. She didn't want to sound like that to him, but he made everything harder! He had even cut her hair so… short...

"You're better like that." He uttered and gripped her chin with one hand, he kissed her deeply.

Soon after, she had forgotten about her hair cutting depression.

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"That's it."

"_Purple Prey_?"

"Hey don't make that face. This is the best house in town."

Itachi eyed again the neon letters flashing above the big ebony door of the host club. He was not sure if this was a good idea, but something was better than that sick obsession for his brother.

He had already admitted to himself that he no longer felt any kind of attraction towards his girlfriend. Her body didn't arouse him anymore. It probably never had, he believed it did because common sense told him that was how things were supposed to be. You know, like a psychological imposition after a known biological fact: males tend to be attracted to good-looking girls so that their passing genes would be guaranteed with natural good qualities. If your brain thinks like that, your body will think like that. It's the beauty of psychology.

Homosexuals were just a freak of nature, since they defied biological laws. Not that Itachi thought homos were freaks, but that was the general opinion of the big and powerful Uchiha family, and certainly his father's belief.

Itachi was the prodigy, the perfect Uchiha, not a freak of nature.

So why was he having those abnormal thoughts? Yesterday, he had fucked his girlfriend doggy style, and he ended up imagining she was Sasuke in order to cum. Well, cutting her hair like his brother's wasn't the best idea to resolve his little (big) problem, but shouting his name when he came…! Damn, that was embarrassing, for himself, of course. He didn't care if his girlfriend got the shock of her life; he probably was going to break up with her anyway. He sure was having a hard time accepting the fact that he was sexually attracted to Sasuke. He preferred to accept that he was indeed gay, or a freak of nature, but _not_ incestuous. God no.

So he went to talk to Kisame, the only friend he knew who was gay. Itachi explained to him he wanted to know how it is to be with a guy, and that it was just curiosity.

Kisame smiled and consented without comments. Over time, he had learned how to interact safely with Itachi even in his weirdest demands.

They entered inside the place and Kisame, obviously already familiar with the house, rapidly guided Itachi to a table in a corner that had a fair view of the room and the boys that worked there. The place itself wasn't small, but it was filled with so many tables that there was barely space to move inside. The illumination was intentionally weak, and along with the Prussian blue velvet seats, it created an intimate environment.

Everybody working there were male, and the eldest person Itachi had spotted was 25 at the most. The majority of them were certainly teens, and some didn't look older than twelve. Every one of them wore tight clothes in every style – there was the gothic slut, the cowboy with the strange pants that have holes in the ass, some had animal tail and ears… they were all prepared for every taste and fetish. Some of them were almost naked. There was even one kid that had only a scarf around the waist, and his bared back was bruised with whip marks. Give him a cross and you'd get the shouta version of Jesus Christ.

The clients were male in majority, and some women were there. There weren't many, but the ones present were very well dressed. Of course, one had to be considerably rich to afford a session with one of those boys. Even being there and just having a drink was very expensive, as Itachi noticed when a boy-waitress announced the price for a Martini. He could buy ten bottles of Martini with that price. Nevertheless, he asked for the drink, as money was never a problem for a Uchiha.

"Is there someone that interests you?" Kisame asked, and grinned.

Itachi had looked around the room again. Some boys were being taken by a client to a corner with stairs, where they would step up and disappear.

"Are there rooms upstairs?"

"Yeah, you can call them rooms. More like cabins, their so small. But there's plenty of space to do whatever you want…" He grinned widely.

The boy-waitress arrived with their drinks and Itachi took a slurp. He eyed the boys walking around table to table, some sitting, and talking with clients; others were dancing on a mini stage. He analyzed every boy in the room, including the boy-waitresses.

None of them were half as beautiful as Sasuke. Hadn't he specifically asked Kisame to bring him to the best place?

"This is the best you can find?"

Kisame gasped. How could he not be satisfied? "This is top-class, Itachi-san! Do you know the owner of this place? It's Orochimaru, man. You know how he is…let's say, very effective when it comes in gathering pretty boys and selling them in a brothel."

"Hn. It's still disappointing."

Kisame sighed. Really, his friend was unbelievably picky. That was probably a Uchiha thing, seeing how conceited and proud that fucked up family was. Beauty ran all over the family, that's for sure, as he never _ever _encountered an ugly Uchiha, no matter how distant the relative was to Itachi. Even among a family of pretty faces, Itachi was a fucking god. Kisame lost the number of how many people tried to get into Itachi's pants, men or women, straight or gay. Even Kisame tried, when they met, but was immediately discarded. When the Uchiha said he thought he was gay, Kisame was delighted: thought he had a chance. He suggested to him a night out for the second time, just the two of them, but…

"_I don't think you're my type_." That's what he said. Kisame was dumped again.

Kisame was never one for crying. He shrugged the rejection away and put back on his creepy optimistic grin.

"_Then what is your type?"_

"_I'm not sure…"_

Kisame sighed. He had thought this was going to be very difficult. Itachi had never been an expressive person.

"_What do you think of when you jack off?"_

"_Can't say."_

"_Shit man, I can't help you if you don't talk to me! Just…describe the man of your dreams."_

"_The man of my dreams?"_

"_Yeah, what you want to screw right now. You know, blondies or blackies, anything. I'll see what I can find for you."_

"_Ok. He has to be very beautiful."_

"_Good, that's a start! Beautiful, huh?...You mean, like pretty boys? No big muscled men?"_

"_No. And pale skin."_

"_No tannies?"_

"_No. And black hair."_

"_Black hair?"_

"_Yes. He has to have very black hair."_

"_Er…ok. Seems like you're describing yourself…"_ He mumbled.

"_What?"_

"_Nothing, nothing. Anyway, I used to hang out in a certain place that I think you'll like."_

And that's how they ended up here.

A boy, not older than fifteen, with black short hair and pale skin, appeared next to the bar. Kisame nudged Itachi to look at the boy.

"He's not bad." He admitted.

"And we've got a winner…"

Kisame gestured to call the pale boy, in which he obeyed with a smile. The requested one arrived at their table and displayed the cutest expression, as he was trained to.

It was Kisame who spoke for Itachi: "My friend here wants to know you better."

The boy smiled and bowed his head politely, maintaining his hands together over his lap. "I'm very honored to be of your interest." He said, to Itachi. "And how do you wish to know me?

Itachi frowned, somewhat bewildered by that question, which roused a chuckle from his strange-colored friend.

'_Heh,_ _how cute_.' Kisame thought, savoring the sight of a confused Uchiha prodigy.

"With plastic, upstairs." Kisame replied to the boy, and earned a glare from his friend. "It's on me. My welcoming gift." The shark-looking man grinned.

"Welcoming gift?" Itachi's eyes widened. He wondered where Kisame got the money to buy him an expensive whore. Considering how short of money his friend generally was at the end of the month. Not that Kisame did not have a well-paid job; it was just that the guy was very bad in keeping his money inside his bank account.

"Yeah. Welcome to the wonderful world of tight asses." He uttered, still wearing his usual creepy grin, and lifted his drink in a toast stance. "No more boring vaginas."

"I didn't say I was gay." Itachi reminded him, and narrowed his eyes. "I said I wanted to try."

"Whatever you say, dude. Have fun."

Itachi grunted, stood up and nodded to the boy, showing he was ready to go 'upstairs'. He let the boy guide the way through the tables, deviating from the obstacles with the same grace as the teenager. Reaching the stairs, they climbed up to the second floor where a long high corridor extended in front of them. There were doors set along each side of the corridor, some closed, and some opened, all painted in purple. The boy walked to an opened door, Itachi followed him, and entered.

Kisame was right. It did look like a cabin; the room inside was so small that it would hardly fit a bed. The only furniture in the room was a two-seat leather sofa, crimson-colored, a floor lamp and a very small chest of drawers of dark wood. Hung on the wall were some chains with handcuffs, for bondage lovers.

"So…" the boy approached him in charming steps. He stretched his delicate hand, and brushed Itachi's chest, feeling his prominent muscles through the fabric of the shirt. "…what do you want to do?"

"I don't know." Itachi confessed. Truth was he expected the boy to do all the work; after all wasn't that what he was paid for?

The boy noticed his uneasiness, and asked:

"Is this your first time?"

"Yes."

"With men?" He frowned.

Itachi could tell he was surprised.

"You're not a man yet."

The boy chuckled. "Sorry, but I didn't expect that. You're so handsome, and you look so confident."

He gently threw his arms around Itachi's neck, and pulled him down to a soft kiss.

"I'm very pleased to be your first ma..-oops, _boy_. "

* * *

Itachi got home in a much better mood then when he had left. Being with another male was surprisingly pleasant, and in many ways more arousing than all the sex he had with his ex-girlfriend (she wasn't properly 'ex' yet, but she will be the next morning). Although images of his brother still invaded his mind, he was able to cum without thinking of him, and that was kind of relieving. Well, the boy he picked certainly resembled his brother, but that only meant he liked that type of guy, right? Even his ex-girlfriend had pale skin and dark hair, it was just his archetype. Too bad his brother had to be blessed with those features; it only made things more confusing to him.

But he wasn't incestuous!

He shut the entrance door and headed to the kitchen to get a cup of water before he went to bed. There was a soft noise coming from across the kitchen, where the water heater was, suggesting someone was taking a bath. Probably Sasuke, since he liked taking a bath at night before he went to bed.

After he filled up the glass with water, Itachi noticed that the water heater had stopped emitting noise. Few seconds after, he heard his brother stepping out of his room upstairs and climbing down the stairs in furious steps. It didn't take long for the young raven to appear in the kitchen, with nothing but a towel hanging on his waist, hair dripping water on his naked pale chest.

Itachi swallowed hard the rest of the water in his glass.

"Oh…you're here." Sasuke stopped when he saw his brother. He silently sighed, relieved that it wasn't his father in the kitchen. Fugaku would scold him for wandering almost naked in the house, claiming that it was not proper conduct for a Uchiha. Even inside their home, Fugaku was extremely picky with those sort of things.

"Yes I am." The elder mumbled, stoically as ever. Inside, he was cursing to himself for liking the scenario. A lot.

"The water heater turned off again." The raven snorted, feeling the need to justify his sudden presence. Without saying another word, he crossed the white kitchen to where the water heater was.

Itachi's eyes followed his little brother's bared body in silent lust. Water dropped lazily down Sasuke's softly defined muscles; pink nipples were stuck out due to the cold. Shit.

"Sasuke, why didn't you put some clothes on?" He grunted. Shit, shit, fucking erection was shamelessly forming again.

"I'm still taking a bath!" His brother responded, with an annoyed tone. "Father said he'd fix the damn heater but he didn't. And now it turned off again!"

The annoyed teenager started to analyze the heating device by hitting its buttons randomly. The older Uchiha knew that he should just walk away and head to his room, avoid while he could other unwanted images.

But no, he didn't walk away. His legs moved, though instead of moving backwards, they moved forwards.

To where his little brother was.

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be tasted

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Funny how convictions work so powerfully on men.

A boy is raised by convictions to become a man with convictions. He then builds a family in order to raise children with those same convictions. It becomes a never-ending cycle that man calls "living". You don't even know where those convictions came from, but they are there. They are you. Someone engraved them into your _tabula rasa_.

Madara once said that life was a game, where you play with all you have and risk your convictions. The more you risk, the less human you become. Of course, the rules of the game were decided by the society you were born into. A society has different rules from the next one; _shogi_ is different from chess, the same way Japan is different from western societies. The principles are basically the same: you either risk your virtues to win what you want, or you lose.

You see, the problem with convictions, is that they restrain your mind. A restrained mind leads to a restrained body, and a restrained body equals endless frustration. Human beings are frustrated, not by nature, but by convictions.

To win the game, you need to be free.

Therefore, what do you do when some of your convictions – let's say, the ones that guide your life in society – are about to be shattered? All because your body, for some odd reason, began to overpower you mind!

Two days ago, Itachi was a normal heterosexual being. Was it just a conviction imposed by his father? Maybe. Even though, there are plenty of cases of people finding their true sexuality at his age, or even later.

Really, how many cases are there of people finding that they were not just guilty of homosexuality, but also guilty of something that no modern society will accept: incestuous desires? (1)

It was almost like a bad joke. There he was in the kitchen, the Prodigy, slowly advancing like a predator to his prey. Slowly advancing on _his_ _own brother – _an innocent boy who was hitting the water heater buttons randomly, and had no clue that he was being hunted. Forget human logic, erase centuries of civilization and moral convictions; Itachi the Genius was about to realize that when it comes to your cock, there is no dignified explanation that can curtail your actions.

Without even realizing, Itachi had walked thirty feet of the kitchen area, only to stop right behind his little brother.

At that moment, no apparent logic could penetrate the prodigy's mind. What is logic, after all? No more than mere logical premises, combined to result in a logical conclusion.

What are logical premises? Moral convictions that tell you that incest is bad? Sasuke was wearing nothing but a towel. If the first is true, and the second is true, the conclusion would be: _fuck convictions_.

Sasuke was becoming a very attractive man and had nothing but a towel on. Fuck logic.

With the boy's back facing him, Itachi took the moment to memorize the flawless details of his brother's body. He noticed how Sasuke didn't have any skin spots. It was the first time he noticed something so trivial like that. Not one brown spot, that perfect brat.

He noticed how his shoulder blades were nicely pronounced; the nice curve of his butt under the white towel. How his legs looked too smooth for a guy. Although his shoulders were becoming wider and manlier, and the boy was becoming taller, Sasuke still had a lot of feminine characteristics, which only made the brat even more attractive.

"Itachi…could you help me turn this thing on?"

Itachi snapped from his improper thoughts, annoyed for letting it happen again. He eyed his brother, who clearly gave up in trying to get hot water again, and looked at Itachi with a pout on his face.

He looked too fucking cute with a pout on his face.

He should walk away.

Ignore his brother's request, ignore his brother's pouting face, enter into his own bathroom, and take a cold shower, to ease his testy hard-on. No fucking way he was going to jerk off fantasizing on Sasuke again!

He was eager to take off those pants.

Wearing tight jeans could be useful to prevent an embarrassing swelling in front of his brother, but it pained a lot in his groin.

Then again, why should he walk away? Convictions? Right…who invented that word?

"The heater has a protection mechanism, foolish otouto."

No, he didn't walk away. He approached Sasuke, _slowly_, until he was standing really close to the boy. He breathed the shampoo scent from Sasuke's dripping hair. Aloe Vera shampoo, to be precisely (it was their mother who bought it; she had been addicted to sensationalized plant products).

"Yeah... so you're gonna help me or what?" Sasuke asked with a frown. His 'acting-weird-lately older brother' was staring at him. Again.

In less than a minute, Itachi managed to 'revive' the heating water device and bring hot water back to their home.

"Damn, is there anything you can't do?" Sasuke mumbled, still a bit perplexed by the apparent speed in which his brother resolved the problem.

Itachi smirked. Just when his brother was preparing to leave and resume his bath, he noticed a soft bruise on his neck, contrasting with his ivory skin. "What's this?"

He had touched on the bruise, which made Sasuke shiver from the contact of his cold fingers. The raven had jerked his hand to the spot, and gently brushed away Itachi's tickling fingers.

"Oh this? It was Sakura."

Itachi frowned. Sakura was the pink haired friend right? It must be; nobody else had a stupid name matching the hair color.

"Your girlfriend?"

"Er…sort of…"

Sasuke shivered again when Itachi's cold fingers touched the hickey again.

"Sort of? She is or she isn't. What is it, Sasuke?" His voice was getting colder than his fingers.

The young Uchiha had not understood his older brother's behavior, but it had truly made him very uncomfortable.

"Then she is, I guess."

"Hm." Itachi had leaned closer to Sasuke, his face almost touched the boy's left cheek. "So you like girls?"

Sasuke unconsciously had took a step back and felt the metal-ice contact of his back with the big cylinder next to the water heater. What the hell was his brother doing? Suddenly acting so intimidating, his warm breath against his cold face and neck was almost causing him a thermal shock.

"Y-yeah…why wouldn't I like girls?" God, why was he feeling so uncomfortable? It was just his brother! Acting all weird yeah, but still…

"Or is it because father told you to like girls?"

"What?"

The older grabbed the younger's shoulder and pushed him against the cylinder. Sasuke flinched with the sudden cold of the metal device, it almost numbed his bared back.

Itachi didn't know exactly what was he trying to achieve with that performance of his – he obviously discarded the ignore-and-walk-away plan – for he only knew two things at the moment: he had an aching cock in his pants and an irrational desire to stick it inside his brother right there.

Like he did with that whore a while ago.

_Fuck convictions._

"Tell me Sasuke…" He reached his brother's ear, and whispered. "Have you ever been with a boy? Perhaps that friend or yours, Naruto…?"

"What? No!"

His heart had beaten faster. He didn't know what was going on! Why was Itachi grasping his shoulder? He blocked his way out, as if he had did something wrong. Why was he asking those irrelevant questions? He just wanted a bath, and it was damn cold outside for a summer night.

"What the heck have you been sniffing?"

He gasped when he felt Itachi sucking his earlobe. His own brother's tongue was licking his left ear, and his jaw next to his ear, slowly, like he was gently savoring it. This was so fucked up…

"Don't tell me your friend…" Itachi placed a soft bite on his jaw line, and resumed to talk with a very deep, and aroused voice: "…never hit on you?"

Now Sasuke's heart was beating faster than before. He could not move yet, his mind was still processing the whole situation. Itachi – his brother –just stood there, and kissed his face for like minutes. His hot, _wet_ lips had moistened his skin, and drew closer to his mouth…

"Itachi…what are you doing?"

Itachi stopped when he reached his brother's chin. He lifted his head and gazed at Sasuke's mouth, slightly opened in utter disbelief. His brother almost looked innocent with that expression. So unbelievably cute. Sasuke's velvet mouth…

He placed one of his long elegant fingers on the raven's mouth, and drew the contour of his lips with the tip of his finger.

Sasuke still did not move, too mesmerized by his older brother's actions.

When Itachi finished outlining the perfect mouth, he moved his finger to the inside Sasuke's mouth. Touching the boy's teeth, he suddenly had the urge to see those appealing lips sucking his singular finger. Sasuke sucking-

Sasuke jerked his head away and pushed Itachi, and roughly broke their intimate contact.

"What the hell are you doing?" He freed his shoulder from the tight gasp of Itachi and jumped away from the icy metal of the cylinder, away from the weird behavior of his brother.

Itachi stood there, with an unaffected face, and looked down on Sasuke, like he had did nothing extraordinary. He didn't reply, and the younger, hissed a shiver at the cold temperature. He seemed to remember his initial propose.

"I'm going resume my bath" Sasuke murmured, and walked away from the kitchen, in hasty steps.

* * *

He woke up by the rooster's singing, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. When he touched his throbbing erection it burned on his cold fingers.

"_Aah…aah…hard…hard, nii-san, fuck me harder!..."_

Images of a horny naked Sasuke begging him for more were still vivid. One stroke, and he came hard again, staining the new sheets with his seed.

It was becoming a habit. Almost every night he dreamt of fucking his little brother, and woke up super aroused with a pained groin. The moans would still echo inside his head until he got up from the bed and took a cold shower. Sometimes he would recall the moans of his dreams during the day, especially while talking with Sasuke. That was so frustrating.

However, he and his little brother haven't been talking much lately.

Since that kitchen episode, Sasuke seemed to avoid him.

He didn't really avoid Itachi – he could never bring himself to do that to his precious Itachi – but he certainly felt more constrained around his older brother.

Naturally.

Itachi was beginning to lose control, and he knew it. No point in ignoring the sinful attraction he felt for his brother.

So it came _that day_, the day he had an epiphany: he needed to find a way to get into Sasuke's pants. _For real_.

Maybe just screwing once would resolve his little issue, and stop for good those embarrassing incestuous dreams. Then he would go back to normality.

Though it will be tricky to get into Sasuke's pants in that day, especially.

That day was another day of partying at the Uchiha house, and Itachi could predict already the paranoia around the house. Servants would be everywhere, in a frenetic rush to put everything perfectly in order before the guests would arrive. Mikoto would spend half the day dressing herself, and the other half running after the servants. Fugaku would…be around doing something, probably arguing with Sasuke for the shirt buttons, and Itachi would find no time alone with his brother to resolve his little issue.

Damn.

* * *

"Sasuke, button up the shirt." Fugaku ordered. He couldn't believe his younger son honestly thought he could wear the shirt collar unbuttoned.

"It's tight around my neck, father."

And the brat still replied to him…

"It is not too tight!" He shouted, angered. "Button up the damn shirt to wear the tie!"

"I can wear the tie without buttoning the collar button!"

He completely hated tidied up shirts! It felt like he had a constant grip around his throat! It wasn't like it was a super formal party.…At the last party, not only had he not buttoned his shirt, he did not wear a fucking tie either. So why was his father bitching about it now?

Fugaku, who had never been a patient man, grasped his son's jaw roughly and hissed: "You will wear that shirt as I say so."

"Why?" Although his father's grip was restraining his jaw's movements, he managed to protest. "Itachi isn't wearing the shirt buttoned up."

"Don't argue with me young man! You will wear the shirt decently and a tie, end of story!"

He loosened the grip around Sasuke's jaw, leaving reddened marks on the pale skin. Fugaku had took a deep breath, calmed his nerves, and walked away from his younger son's room. He slammed the door behind him with a loud bang, still irritated with the brat's insolence.

In the hallway, he met his other son, who happened to hear all the arguing. Itachi was already fully dressed, and didn't even have a tie. For that kind of party, where the guest were already familiar, formalities weren't all that required.

"A tie?" His older son lifted an eyebrow.

"Orochimaru is coming." Fugaku sighed. "I don't want that brat wandering around looking too...comfortable."

"Oh..." The left corner of Itachi's lips curved. "You're trying to reduce the possibilities of Orochimaru raping Sasuke by rendering the unclothing process more difficult."

"Don't talk like that of Orochimaru, Itachi! He is our best client!"

Itachi shrugged, he still smirked, but didn't present his father a reply.

Fugaku sighed, heavily. "Orochimaru may have some unorthodox preferences. Nevertheless it's Sasuke's fault if things get… shameless." He adjusted his shirt collar and changed the subject. "By the way, I heard you broke up with Mai."

His father's voice was impassive, but he did notice a timbre of annoyance.

"You heard correctly." Itachi replied, nonchalantly.

"Her father is a guest for today's dinner, and I personally requested that she came too." He took a step forward, and shortened the gap between him and his elder son. "I hope you take the opportunity to reflect about your mistakes and ponder your role as a Uchiha."

Itachi closed his fists, a little irritated with his father's habit in meddling in his affairs, but kept his stoic expression. Inside, images of his father being punished in medieval torture devices delighted his head.

Did that stupid creature know what he was doing by bringing Mai to the party? Not only would she be in his way the whole time – definitely forget time alone with Sasuke –he would be placing hope in that pathetic girl's head about their relationship. He knew she wasn't going to leave him alone that night.

Before he left his son to go downstairs, Fuagku eyed Itachi one more time, and hoped for a hint of an emotion, or some expression on his usual stone-like son, but got nothing. It was as if Itachi didn't care, if ever. If it was Sasuke, he at least would get a verbal response… but then again, if it was Sasuke, the insolent brat wouldn't have accomplished half what Itachi had. (Unfortunately, Fugaku knew he couldn't expect a nineteen-year-old Sasuke to be with a beautiful-rich-and-intelligent fiancée and finishing a master degree).

That was probably the biggest difference with his two sons. Itachi may be difficult – skip that, _impossible_ – to read, and appeared unemotional to everyone. But at least he met the expectations of his parents, and didn't let them down.

Fugaku was very proud of him.

* * *

The guests arrived at 6 pm. This was supposed to be an 'important friends' informal party – a wise move of Fugaku, to keep his contacts closer and to remind them of the Uchiha head's power.

Fugaku's brothers were all present, including wives and sons, and the most trustful and important clients like Orochimaru and Mai's father. Hyuuga Hiashi was there too, with his oldest daughter. Fugaku wanted to form an alliance with the Hyuugas and put an end to the history of rivalries between the two families, so he invited over the Hyuuga head too.

Dinner started at 7 o'clock, and everyone sat on their designated seats. Luckily for Sasuke, his seat was far from Orochimaru's, so he was able to eat in peace without the worry of having uncomfortable bony fingers climbing up his thigh towards his groin. Unfortunately for Itachi, his seat was next to Mai, and that night she was especially touchy-feely.

However, it wasn't Mai who got him moody for the dinner. Although annoying, her seductive attempts didn't affect him much. What was affecting him was why his father had decided to sit Sasuke…

…beside the Hyuuga heir?

He knew it; Fugaku was planning to match them together. That's how he did with him and Mai: it only took one party and two close seats at the dinner table. Not that Itachi minded back then, Mai was attractive.

But now was different.

Now it was Sasuke.

'_Why do you care? You only want to fuck him, not marry him.'_

He laughed to himself with the idea to marry Sasuke. That would be utterly stupid, not to say forbidden by all religions in the world, even by those that are about to be invented. In addition, why would he want to have his brother for eternity? He wouldn't have the patience for him. Well, he did like to spend time with him, but not all the time. The boy is still too clingy.

He just wants to fuck him madly, resolve those crazy dreams, and them the Hyuuga heir can have Sasuke for all eternity.

Right?

.

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* * *

(1) Incest is not illegal in Japan, but it's considered immoral.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: All people are your relatives, therefore expect only trouble from them

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After dinner, with fueled stomachs and pleased moods, the guests scattered around the big hall of the house and the living room to perform the riot of socialization: the talking part.

Sasuke loosened the tight knot of his tie and unbuttoned the collar's button, against his father's orders. It's not like his father would noticed, busy as he was talking with the Hyuuga head.

He scanned the room, not sure of what he was looking for. He hated family made parties, it was boring as hell, and he was obliged to be present. He didn't have anyone to talk to, since he didn't like to talk to any of his cousins or any father's _important friend's_ sons. Why couldn't he just stay in his room and play videogames? It's not like he was needed there anyway…

Unlike him, everyone of his family had their place. Fugaku, obviously, was the head; his mother had the wives to talk to, Itachi had to listen to all the people praising his geniality. Really, what the hell was he doing there…?

"H-Hi."

If it wasn't for the silent corner he picked to endure the rest of the night, he never would have noticed the presence of the Hyuuga heir next to him. He raised his head to eye her, and she immediately looked away in embarrassment.

"Hn."

"A-are you…er…are y-you doing well?"

She was tickling her fingers while talking (wait, she didn't talk, she stuttered).

It amazed him how the hell she managed to reach that age – the same as his – with no evolution in social skills whatsoever, seeing that she was raised by a father not that different from Fugaku.

"That's a stupid question." He snorted.

"Oh…s-sorry."

She stopped ticking her fingers, and suddenly seemed extremely concentrated on something else.

Probably for a conversation theme.

"Y-your house is pretty."

Seriously, she was a completely lost case in making conversation. The Hyuugas were known for their persuasion skills in the business world. She was the humorless irony of the perfect Japanese family (and tragically, he could relate himself to her).

"What do you want, Hinata?"

She winced, seeming really surprised.

"Y-you know my name…"

"Why wouldn't I know your name? You're from my class."

"Naruto-kun doesn't know…" She bowed her head again, and hid her sadness.

Oh no…it's true that he didn't want to spend the rest of the party alone leaned against a silent wall, but he also didn't want to spend it with a lovesick stuttering girl!

"Naruto doesn't know a lot of things." He mumbled, hoping that she would not annoy him much with her one-sided crush.

"H-How is he doing?"

That was a good question. He hadn't talked to that guy for what…a week?

It looked longer.

He didn't blame him though. Since Sakura announced to the world she was his official girlfriend, things had been weird with Naruto. He didn't know the blond idiot would be so affected by it, it was no big deal for Sasuke. Actually, he didn't know he was Sakura's 'boyfriend' until it became official, since all they had was only on trial basis. He was curious, he was in puberty, and he was a popular boy with popular friends that liked to brag about things. Apparently, for a girl, when something like that happens, it equals 'official boyfriend', and possibly future husband (yes, she was talking about kids, already at fourteen for fuck's sake).

He didn't know what it meant to be someone's boyfriend. His mother told him that it only happened when you fell in love, but he sure knew he didn't feel that way for Sakura. Then again, when he asked his popular friends if they loved their girlfriends, they laughed as if he just told them the most stupid joke.

"_Of course not."_

Yeah, he figured. It was just a question, moron. He hated when people laughed at him. His friends laughed at him that time. His cousins laughed at him. His father laughed at him. His brother…he…that night in the kitchen…

"S-Sasuke-kun?" Hinata's voice interrupted his thoughts. "A-re you alright?"

She looked concerned. Her pure heart will be her downfall someday.

"Yeah…" He loosened the tie around his neck more, suddenly feeling extremely hot.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

He walked away from her, spotted the nearest bathroom, and entered inside. He turned the faucet on, and washed his face with the cold water. It was hot, the tie was too tight, and the shirt was too thick. There were too many people in the house, talking and laughing… It was suffocating him.

Busy as he was cooling down his burning face, he only noticed someone had entered inside the bathroom when the door shut and the lock click was heard. He jolted and turned around quickly.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." It was Orochimaru; he stood there with a creepy smile. He looked Sasuke up and down with lust written in his eyes.

'_Shit_.'

Now that he thought about it, spending the rest of the party with Hinata wasn't such a bad idea.

Orochimaru was the kind of guy that you wouldn't want to spend an hour with if you're a minor. Moreover, Sasuke certainly knew what the man was capable of.

He never wore any other colors beside black and purple. His long black hair was always loosened over his shoulders, and with cadaveric cheeks and morbid-pale skin tone, he looked like he came out of a very bad B-horror movie.

"I'll scream if you touch me." He hissed when the unwanted figure took a step forward.

'_Jesus, I sound like a fucking girl.'_

Who cares anyway? He was with _Ororchimaru_, The Pervert of the perverts, locked inside a goddamn bathroom. Sounding scared and girly was the least of your concern, when you want to save your ass virginity.

"Oh, you will?" The man teased.

His voice sounded like it was hoarse with over usage; it always traumatized him.

"And what would you think your father would do if you scream…and interrupt his important party?" He took another step forward.

Sasuke clenched his teeth. Sure, his father would probably be pissed at him and scold him for-what was his words again, last time it happened?-oh yes, "seducing his clients". Nevertheless, if he screamed, he would attract attention, and Orochimaru could do nothing…right? Then again, if he screamed, and attracted attention, his father would be embarrassed, and disappointed with him. Again.

Maybe he could make his way out of it alone. C'mon, he wasn't weak, it wasn't like he couldn't defend himself against rapists. He just needed to get to the door.

Just when he tried to get to that door, Orochimaru attacked him in a blink of an eye, pinning him against the wall. Sasuke squirmed his body in angry frustration to free himself from Orochimaru's grip, trying to place a good hit on his attacker; but soon Orochimaru placed a punch in his stomach. The pain made him stop the fighting briefly and that gave time for Orochimaru to grab both of his wrists with the same hand, above the boy's head, showing the man a full display of his torso. With the other hand, he started to unbutton his shirt.

"Stop it! You fuckin' perv…"

Sasuke continued to fight against the man's strong grip by using his legs, but Orochimaru rapidly immobilized them with his own legs. The boy tried with his full strength to free his wrists, and with that Orochimaru responded by placing his knee on his groin and pressed it against his balls, until it hurt.

"Ugh…"

"That's it, Sasuke-kun. Be a good boy."

The man spoke near his mouth, his breath was horrendous. He had finished unbuttoning the boy's shirt and untying his tie – doing it with an amazing speed with only one hand, makes one shiver in thinking how many times he did it before – and with his free hand he grabbed Sasuke's jaw, with his bony fingers pressed hard on his cheeks to force him to open his mouth.

"I'm going to kiss you now, Sasuke-kun. Don't try to bite me like you did last time, it won't work again."

To prove his point, he pressed his knee harder against the boy's balls, making him groan from the painful pressure. Was he trying to sterilize him?

With his mouth forcibly opened, Orochimaru placed his lips on his, easily inserting his abusing tongue inside the boy's wet cave. Sasuke shut his eyes tight, and hoped it didn't last long.

One of the most disgusting feelings of his very existence was when that long tongue ravaged his mouth for the first time and almost made him choke. He was barely twelve, and it was at a party in their house. It didn't last long because fortunately, his brother stepped in the way. After that, he always maintained his guard around Orochimaru, but the man had his tricks. Luckily, Orochimaru didn't manage to rape him yet, though it scared him that it seemed he was getting closer to his goal each time he attacked him. Last time he managed to rip Sasuke's shirt, half-remove his pants and even put his disgusting hand inside his boxers. He hoped this time he would escape before Orochimaru went any further.

The ravaging kiss was taking too fucking long. Orochimaru didn't need the knee to threaten him, he couldn't fucking move his jaw even if he tried. Those cold bony fingers were pressing too hard on Sasuke's cheeks; it would certainly result in a bruise. Maybe, when the pervert started to remove his pants – because he sure was going to do it very soon – he could try to escape. It could be a problem if he appeared half-naked in the hall, but with luck, nobody would notice it.

Orochimaru finished the kiss by licking the saliva on Sasuke's bruised lips. He freed his jaw, leaving deep reddened marks on his frail skin, and with a finger, he trailed down the boy's pale neck to the collarbone, and felt the delicate contours of his neck. He smiled in contentment.

"You're so beautiful, Sasuke-kun. Why don't you come with me? I could give you anything…"

Sasuke spitted at his face in response. Orochimaru did not seem annoyed with the act; he wiped the saliva off with two fingers, and sucked them. "And you taste so good too…"

"Fuck you…ugh!" He flinched in pain when Orochimaru put again pressure against his balls.

"I agree with your father, you're very rude to people. You need to be taught some manners…"

He pinched his left nipple, and twisted it roughly, which earned another pained groan from the boy. Grinning, he leaned to suck the other nipple and bit the pink flesh until it bled. Orochimaru liked to imprint his personalized marks on Sasuke and made sure they didn't disappear for a while.

Sasuke bit his lips hard, trying to silence his groans. He knew how sadistic that fucker was, how he loved to hear him in pain, and he did not want to give him the pleasure. Even though an abused nipple hurt quite a bit.

When Orochimaru's raping mouth moved away to bite other areas of his chest, he left the nipple all swollen, bruised and with blood spots. Fuck, what an ugly sight. He really needed to get out of there quick-

The sudden opening of the door surprised both of them. Orochimaru automatically moved away from Sasuke, and glared at the intruder. The boy took the chance to distance himself from his attacker as far as possible.

"Itachi…you came to join us?" Orochimaru smirked teasingly.

Itachi glared at Orochimaru, with a very _very _unfriendly expression. He saw out of corner of his eye, his brother with an unbuttoned shirt and some rough bruises on his face and…his nipple.

He didn't like that the lovely pink nipple was in that type of condition. Teeth marks, red blood, and purple bruises did not look good on Sasuke's nipples. (He only wanted to see Sasuke's nipples that way if_ he_ was the one who did it, not that fucking snake).

"You don't like threesomes?" Orochimaru continued to tease the silent Itachi, but saw the older Uchiha narrowing his eyes in irritation; he figured it was time for him to withdraw.

"See you next time, Sasuke-kun."

With that, he left the bathroom and let the two brothers be alone.

Sasuke did not move for a while, he just gazed at his brother with surprise. He was glad that the torture was over, but at the same time he felt embarrassed that he was 'saved' by Itachi like a helpless and pathetic little boy. The fact that said brother caught him in such a disgraceful figure – bared chest, bloodied nipple, lips swollen, hair disheveled – didn't help much in his self confidence. His nipple was still aching. Well, it would recover as if nothing happened (unfortunately it was not the first time Orochimaru bit his nipple like that), but the sight he was presenting to his brother was…a bit shameful. He must've look like shit.

How in the hell did Itachi get in though? He remembered hearing Orochimaru locking the door inside, so nobody outside could enter.

"How did you get in?" Sasuke finally asked, with a low voice. Without looking Itachi in his eyes, he started to button his shirt.

Itachi threw a metallic object that landed at Sasuke's feet. The teenager leaned over and picked it. It was a key.

"Is this the skeleton k-"

He winced when he felt his older brother grab his neck and push him against the sink counter, making his dorsal spine ache from the brute pressure. It caught him in complete surprise. He did not hear Itachi approach him at all, nor did he expect a sudden reaction like that.

"Did you enjoy his touches?"

Itachi's impassive voice felt heavy on his ears; his eyes, so imminently close to his, were burning. Itachi's onyx eyes looked like they wanted to scream their anger at Sasuke and he didn't know why. He only knew that his heart was suddenly pounding harder in his chest and he didn't like to see his brother this way.

"Of course not!"

Itachi leaned closer, until Sasuke felt his breath on his face. His eyes were still burning, which made the younger more nervous as each second passed.

Unexpectedly, without warning, Itachi placed a soft kiss on Sasuke's jaw line, next to his temple. The boy winced in surprise.

"Then why didn't you scream?"

Sasuke gasped. "I…I was managing my way out, ok? I didn't need your help." He snorted. Now he was pissed at Itachi. He already had his closed-mind father, he didn't need an older brother to also believe he would seduce a perverted freak like Orochimaru.

"Really?" Itachi placed another kiss on his jaw line, this time closer to his mouth. Sasuke was feeling even more uncomfortable than before. It was the same as the kitchen episode, and he didn't like it. Why was his brother behaving like this? What did he want?

"Are you sure you do not like being with a man…Sasuke?"

Suddenly, Itachi kissed him. His brother kissed him on the mouth.

It wasn't a rough abusing kiss like Orochimaru's, it was soft and gentle. He felt Itachi's lips move slowly, rubbing his in a gentle friction. He felt Itachi's tongue licking his superior lip, then running across the inferior lip, and finally pressed the junction to part them. He noticed his brother's taste.

Itachi didn't taste bad. He tasted like alcohol and fruit, a pleasant wine... But it was his fucking brother!

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke snapped and pushed him away, breaking the kiss abruptly.

Itachi decided to ignore the boy's protest and grabbed Sasuke's head with a firm hand. He kissed him again, and this time, he inserted his tongue to taste what Orochimaru had tasted previously.

Sasuke was so bewildered by his brother's attitude that he initially stood there frozen, letting Itachi explore his mouth. He didn't understand what was going on. He finally got rid of Orochimaru, and now his brother was showing the same behavior! Was it the wine? They said wine was an aphrodisiac. He didn't know, he never drank alcohol, but that theory could explain…

This. Itachi was touching his nipple (not the sore one, though).

His shirt was again unbuttoned, and his own fucking brother was touching his nipple erotically. Jesus fucking Christ.

He couldn't control a moan escaping from his lips.

"Stop…it…" Between struggles for air, Sasuke managed to break the kiss. He felt his heart race madly, his mind was lost in unanswered questions and confusing thoughts. Itachi's hands were all over his bared chest, and his mouth was all over his cheeks, his chin, his neck, kissing and nibbling and licking, like a starving beast.

"Itachi, stop it!"

The scream made the older Uchiha stop, and he silently gazed at his little brother. Sasuke was breathless, with eyes wide open in shock. His raven bangs were messily tousled over his face; his swollen lips were slightly open, giving a more arousing portrait of the boy in the eyes of the elder.

"Why?" Itachi asked, in his deep cold voice. He touched his little brother's lips, and drew the beautiful contour with the fingertips.

Sasuke shoved his brother's hand away from his mouth. "Are you fuckin' blind? I'm your own brother, not your girlfriend! Geez…" He prepared to step away from his brother's surreal intimacy, and to button (again) the damn shirt, but Itachi blocked his way.

"I'm afraid I'm not blind, Sasuke." He pinned his little brother against the counter again and forced another deep kiss. He even grabbed the poor kid's jaw to let his tongue ravage wildly inside the wet cavern again.

Sasuke tried to push his brother away from him, but with no success. Itachi's strong arms were blocking his movements, and his back pressed against the countertop was pain on his dorsal spine. He felt his heart beating even faster, and realized how scared he was. Itachi's behavior resembled Orochimaru's, and it frightened him. It was his beloved brother, for Christ's sake! Tongue kissing your own brother is wrong, and if it is a brother you respect deeply, it's sick and insane.

He felt like vomiting.

"Stop it…damn it!" He shouted, when Itachi finally released the rapturous penetration of his tongue in his mouth. Itachi chuckled, and that only made Sasuke's fear rise.

"But you like it…" Itachi purred next to his throat, warm breath causing smooth vibrations on his skin's cells.

"I don't!"

"Oh? Then what's this?" In a rapid movement, Itachi unzipped Sasuke's pants and grabbed his forming erection in his boxers.

Sasuke gasped. He didn't realize he was getting hard; he didn't know why he was getting hard and most of all, he didn't know why his own brother was touching his hard-on, even if his boxers were still in the way.

"Aah…" A soft moan escaped from his lips when Itachi grasped his erection tighter. He felt his dick harden in his brother's hands. This was so wrong…

"You're such a liar, Sasuke."

Itachi moved his hand up and down, and gently massaged his brother's member through the fabric of the boxers, earning badly contained moans. Sasuke tried to jerk his brother away but strength was slipping from his body as the forbidden pleasure Itachi introduced him to, increased highly.

"You say no while your body says yes."

Sasuke was panting heavily, and cursed himself for letting his moans escape, which allowed his brother to get the wrong idea about his will. He did not want this. He didn't want his brother to touch him…like that… it was disgusting. Worst, he did not want to like what his brother was doing to him. Oh no... it didn't feel so good…it didn't…oh…

"Ita-a…stop…this is wron-…"

Itachi didn't reply to him, and instead placed his teeth on his brother's flesh, near the left collarbone, and sucked it until it bruised. He wanted to mark him. It wasn't fair that Orochimaru marked that gorgeous skin before him. He would place more marks on that flesh in time, to let all the other perverts out there know that Sasuke was his property.

His property.

Hm…where did that come from?

He liked that.

Itachi kept his grip on his brother firm. He grabbed the younger's right arm, and pushed him against the sink counter. The hand that had been massaging Sasuke's length through the boxers pulled the erection out and started pumping it more vigorously. Each time Sasuke let out a moan, he would pump harder. Sasuke still tried to push him away, but gave up when the pleasure was revealing itself to be too much.

That sight was priceless. Sasuke lost the control of his moans, and barely supported his aroused body on a trembling elbow on the countertop. Eyes half opened, cheeks slightly flushed in lust, mouth completely relaxed ready to take anything in at that moment. His unbuttoned shirt, wrinkled with all that erotic agitation, framed the beautiful pallor of his torso (with unfortunate evidences of Orochimaru's mouth on there) with his stomach echoing the frenetic rhythm of his hasty breathing.

It was a very orgasmic view in the eyes of the older Uchiha, indeed. It wouldn't take long for Itachi to pound that erotic boy against the sink, for that aching erection in his pants wanted to jump out into action as quickly as possible.

Even though Itachi wanted so badly to fuck Sasuke right there, to mimic the same performance he did with that whore the other day (with more passion and more will), he was still going to watch Sasuke come. Even if he had to endure his hard-on a bit more. He had a sudden, inexplicable _need_ to observe, close up, his little brother having an orgasm. He knew that it would be rewarding.

"Itach-…ah…stop…" Sasuke grasped his brother's shirt collar, weakly. His whole body strength was wavering with the pleasure. He didn't know how Itachi was doing it, but if felt so damn good. "I'm almost…ah!..." A hard stroke on his cock left him without strength to finish the sentence.

He didn't need to, Itachi already knew the boy was at his limit. Before he let the boy reach his climax, Itachi stopped pumping his length, grabbed his little brother's hair, and pulled him to a kiss.

Sasuke opened his mouth and responded with a feverous tongue and a hungry unexplainable desire. The hand was still grasping tightly to the erection, when Sasuke subconsciously started rocking his hips, and rubbed his erection inside his brother's hand.

Itachi kept his eyes open; observing every expression his little brother did, and loved the whole scene. He loved how his brother looked suddenly so dependent on him, like Itachi was the only one who could provide him what he needed in that moment. He liked to be the only one who could give the boy the pleasure he wanted.

He finally resumed to stroke the boy's member, and made Sasuke moan even louder, as he gave empowered pleasure to his brother's body. He licked the younger's lips teasingly, and Sasuke opened his mouth again automatically, inviting him.

Sasuke was close to orgasm. His moans were higher; probably people outside heard him.

Itachi licked the tip of his brother's tongue and immediately Sasuke responded vigorously. Both tongues were twisting and swirling in an open kiss, while Itachi pumped Sasuke's member faster and faster.

Then Sasuke finally came on Itachi's hand, white semen spattered long elegant fingers, while the younger moaned loud his brother's name unintentionally.

Panting from the exhaustion of the orgasm, the young boy slowly opened his eyes. He felt his brother's smile on his lips, and after another soft kiss, that the boy barely registered in his still numbed mind, Itachi murmured, seductively:

"I like the way you moan my name."

Three loud knocks on the door broke up the erotic environment between the two brothers and made Sasuke flinch.

"Itachi-kun? Itachi-kun are you in there?"

Mai's voice hit Sasuke like a reminder of morality. He jolted and jumped away from Itachi, stomped on the mat, frantically put his pants together and started to button up his shirt.

Itachi cursed something inaudible, and turned on the faucet to wash his hands.

Sasuke glanced at him through the corner of the eye, while he rapidly tried to look presentable to step out of the bathroom.

Itachi looked extremely calm for what happened, and unfortunately, that wasn't at all surprising. Itachi was a still a mystery for Sasuke. However, since his girlfriend knocked on the door, he looked a bit more pissed.

"I'm coming, Mai."

It was only when he grunted those words that the girl stopped knocking.

Sasuke relaxed a bit. Those constant knockings were getting on his nerve.

The younger Uchiha had barely finished doing his tie when Itachi opened the door. There was Mai, with a concerned expression, and an even more concerned Hinata standing beside her.

"She was so worried about Sasuke-chan, and you took too long for someone who was just going to the bathroom!" Mai uttered.

Sasuke grimaced when she added 'chan' to his name, again. His brother's girlfriend always had the annoying habit in treating him like a child.

"What happened, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and the boy shrugged off the contact. Images of what just happened refused to leave his mind, and he knew he was blushing from the shame. He kept his eyes on the ground, while his brother spoke with an impassive voice:

"Sasuke was feeling a bit sick. He's ok now, don't worry."

Mai crossed her arms, and frowned in slight disbelief.

"Sick? And he needed his brother's help?"

She eyed Sasuke in disdain, who was still looking at his feet embarrassed.

"He's fourteen Itachi-kun, and you're not his mother. Stop spoiling him already."

Sighing heavily, she grabbed the elder Uchiha's arm and pulled him with her.

"Come, your father is asking for you."

She took Itachi away, leaving the younger Uchiha with the Hyuuga heir alone.

Sasuke stopped gazing at his feet when that woman left with his brother, but he was still feeling his cheeks burning.

Hinata gave him a frowned look.

Neither of them knew what to say to each other, so they kept in silence for a while.

When Sasuke prepared to walk away and ignore her, she finally spoke.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

He looked right at her. "Yes?"

"Your shirt's buttons aren't connected right…"

.

.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: It is the beautiful bird which gets caged 

.

.

When Itachi arrived next to his father, Fugaku had already formed a discussion group with his most _important friends._ The prodigy immediately figured out why his presence was requested.

"Itachi! You came just in time…"Fugaku smiled, and balanced a whisky in his hand.

Fugaku's important-friends-of-the-week was Orochimaru, Hyuuga Hiashi, Uchiha Shin (Shisui's father and Fugaku's most trustful brother), and Mai's father. They were talking about partnerships and expanding businesses more than they were already expanded. Of course, Itachi was expected to give at some point one of his one billion dollar opinions.

However, at that particular time, the prodigy wasn't so much interested in what they were saying.

His mind was still inside the bathroom. His younger brother's sexy moans were still echoing inside his head, muffling the insignificant political talk that he was summoned to. Would Sasuke have screamed his name, if he had fucked him hard against the countertop? Maybe he would have screamed so loud in pleasure, that all the party guests would have heard their ecstasy.

The corner of his lips curved in a soft smile. That would have been sweet.

If it wasn't for his stupid ex and her annoying stalking, the next thing he could have been doing was pounding Sasuke against the sink. Damn, he had had a wonderful opportunity to finally fuck his brother, and that fucking bitch had to interrupt them.

Now here he was, listening to boring business talk. Well he was pretending to listen anyway.

"…What do you think, Itachi?"

His father's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"What?"

"One who gains the exchange control of North Korea, is one who knows no limits of his power." It was Orochimaru who spoke.

Itachi frowned. Maybe the talk wasn't that uninteresting as it seemed.

"Yes." The prodigy uttered. "But last time I checked that _one_ has yet to come."

He had added a sarcastic tone to his voice, for he knew he was going to be given the answer he wanted.

North Korea was an isolated communist country, that believed in an anti-foreign ideal and had a shit load of power – and we're talking about weapons of massive destruction here. Even America would not dare to land a bomb on North Korea. For power suckers like the Uchihas, the Hyuugas, and especially Orochimaru, North Korea had become for the past few months an arousing conversation topic. They thought that by having the North Korean leader with them, the easier to attain world recognition of their political power. They were hoping to be the only ones to provide the political bridge between North Korea and America, and were willing to wait for the time when those two nations' stability would depend upon the Uchihas.

Yes, they were pathetic.

Nevertheless, Itachi found it amusing to participate in their 'evil plans'. Even Madara laughed about it (but they didn't know about that).

"Orochimaru-san's residence is in North Korea." Fugaku firmly said.

'_As I thought.'_

Itachi smirked.

Since he made eighteen, his father began to include him in the company's ultra secret business discussions. Although, Fugaku has been asking for his son's opinions ever since the boy was sixteen. It was the first time in the history of the biggest Japanese companies that important (and sometimes deadly) information was entrusted to such a young adult like Itachi.

"It's not that I can't have their leader's trust." Orochimaru explained. "But I need more support."

"Yes, that's why I think sending our support as a partnership would only result in a win-win situation." Fugaku uttered. "Isn't that right, Hiashi-san?"

"Yes…" The Hyuuga seemed to hesitate a bit. "I still have my doubts…"

Itachi gazed at Orochimaru, whose smile grew wider.

For some reason, he didn't like it.

Turning his head to his father, the prodigy asked:

"What do you mean by 'our support'? Are you going to send our people to North Korea?"

Sending someone to that fucked up country was the same as saying goodbye to then. They would most certainly spend the rest of their lives stuck there. They would even be accused of treason if they tried to leave.

They could use Orochimaru's help for that matter, but the man never did anything without getting something in return. In other words, Orochimaru would have plenty of control over whomever the Uchihas or the Hyuugas set there for 'support'.

"Yes." Uchiha Shin replied. "We need someone who we can trust, who would never betray us. If my brother says he has the right person, I believe him."

"I agree with that." Orochimaru smirked.

"Who are you thinking?" Itachi narrowed his eyes. That whole idea didn't sound nice.

Not that he care for the poor sacrificial lamb who would be thrown to North Korea with a snake like Orochimaru.

No. It was something else that didn't feel right. He just knew it, his instincts never failed him.

He looked again at the Hyuuga head, who was biting his lip nervously.

"I honestly hope this is for the best…" The Hyuuga mumbled.

"Who is it, father?" Itachi asked again, more roughly.

"Sasuke. He will marry Hyuuga Hinata and they will give our support in North Korea, under Orochimaru's directions."

Itachi's eyes widened.

That's why Orochimaru was smirking like an idiot! He was already planning what he would do with the boy once they were in North Korea, that sly faggot.

"I don't agree with it." Itachi stated, coldly. He and the perverted man exchanged some glares.

"Itachi! Why-"His father was interrupted.

"I don't think Sasuke is motivated enough to defend our interests that way. Also, it's difficult to control the situation in North Korea. Unless we take Orochimaru-san at his word, and I don't mean to offend but…that's too risky. Even Orochimaru-san would never put himself in our situation."

"He has a point…" Hiashi said.

It was obvious he was not very sympathetic with the idea of sending his oldest daughter to a dangerous communist country. That or he just had found Orochimaru to be distrustful, but anyone with some common sense would reach that same conclusion.

"Itachi… I understand that you feel protective over your brother, but this is for the best."

Fugaku, however, seemed pretty sure of what he wanted to do with his youngest son.

"Sasuke may be a bit different from you, but he is a good son. I know he wants to make me proud, but he still has a lot to learn. And I believe he can learn a lot with Orochimaru-san."

Of course, if Fugaku was going to convince Sasuke to spend 'some holidays in North Korea with uncle Orochimaru', he would use the 'that's my son' praising technique. That way, Sasuke would probably agree. After all, the kid still strove for his father's acknowledgment.

Even though Itachi never thought his father could go so far for power, that he'd practically offer his younger son to Orochimaru.

It was kind of funny really. Itachi always thought he was unemotional. He could distinguish between right and wrong, he valued respect and dignity and he even had some moral beliefs. He just always felt a void of the feeling that connected families and lovers. He never really understood why he couldn't feel concerned towards Mikoto as she was with him. He just thought that it was a mother's job and only mothers felt concerned.

Then again, it was the same thing with Mai, and she wasn't his mother. It was one day, when Shisui decided to make a stupid test for him called 'the sociopath test' and he scored high. It was then, that he began to consider he had an inability to manifest the thing people called 'love'.

Well, whatever. It's not like he cared.

Though it amazed him how he was being more 'concerned' with Sasuke than his own father was. He didn't know if he should call it 'concern', but he definitely had a more emotional predisposition towards his brother's wellbeing compared to Fugaku.

Or _maybe_, he just didn't want Sasuke to go because of his libido's latest tendencies in controlling his rational thoughts. It would be frustrating if the object of your wet dreams was stuck in North Korea.

"Don't worry, Itachi-kun." Orochimaru smirked. "I can teach a lot of things to your brother…"

Itachi's eyebrow twitched. He did not want to think about the hidden meaning of that sentence.

"I think it's too early." He uttered, directing his voice to his father and the Hyuuga. "Sasuke and Hinata are still in junior high school. You're anticipating an unpredictable future regarding two inexperienced teenagers in an instable country."

He glanced at Orochimaru, by the corner of the eye.

"It's too risky."

Fugaku sighed. "Maybe you're right…"

Orochimaru twitched his nose, obviously displeased with Itachi's 'opinion'.

"We can also discuss this matter later. Let's see how North Korea progresses for now." He said, with a detectable tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Now, speaking of something else, I heard you had enjoyed one of my clubs very much so the other day. Isn't that right, Itachi-kun?"

Fugaku almost chocked on his drink. Shin gasped. The Hyuuga didn't get it, he was rather oblivious to Orochimaru's activities; but all the Uchihas knew that 'Orochimaru's clubs' were synonym for boys' prostitution (it's even said that some of the boys were shockingly young!).

"My, my, we forgot to discuss the growth rate of our EPS!"

Fugaku tried to change the subject quickly, by bringing another stimulation discussion theme for greedy business men. Manipulation of the net income of their companies to control and gain more investors, was always a good thing to talk.

Itachi badly participated in the rest of the talk, never breaking the glaring contest with Orochimaru. It's like they secretly started a game between the two, where Sasuke's ass was the prize and they would play with the pieces they had to keep him. Even though Orochimaru was the one lusting after Sasuke first, Itachi decided to declare the boy as his property, whether the snake liked it or not.

To make matters worse, Itachi will even go as far as to decide that the snake shall not touch his Sasukeever again, as long as he wanted and could have the boy.

Nobody touches his things.

* * *

The guests only left after 11 pm. Sasuke went straight to his bedroom, murmuring to each member of his family an almost inaudible goodbye.

(Actually, he only said goodbye to his parents, unless that you count a glare of confusion/shock/disgust as a goodbye. Itachi don't think it counts, though it was only what he got from the kid.)

Itachi even considered in following the boy and…aah, anyway, his father approached him before he did it.

"Itachi…" Fugaku started "…I understand that sometimes we have…strange desires, we seem to be attracted for the forbidden fruit, and immense curiosity in..." He cleared he throat.

Itachi kept eyeing him, not sure of what his father was trying to tell him. Did he discover his sinful secret? Impossible. Fugaku wasn't that smart.

"What I want to say is that if you want to you to know that I'll not condemn if you want to satisfy your curiosity, as long as you don't do it in place were our reputation can be compromised. Like Orochimaru's clubs."

Oh, he was talking about that. Fugaku could live at ease because Itachi had no more need for Orochimaru's whores. He had Sasuke now.

It would be funny if he told that do his father…he wondered how would he react?...

But he didn't say it. Itachi just nodded at his father announced good night, before he went to his bedroom. When he passed by Sasuke's room, his lights were out.

Oh well, maybe another time.

* * *

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're such a bad liar, Sasuke-kun."

"_You're such a liar Sasuke."_

Stop it! Not the bathroom episode again! Itachi…what he did to him was…is there a word for it?

It wasn't a normal thing to do to younger brother, that's for sure. Even though Sasuke still strove for Itachi's attention, it wasn't that kind of attention he asked for! That was…that was…

"_You say no while your body says yes."_

Oh gods…he never felt so embarrassed in his whole life. In fact, he might start wearing a plastic bag over his head whenever he sees Itachi.

"Sassuukeee-"

"It's nothing, stop bugging me."

"Aww don't be like that! You know I love you and I care about you!"

Sasuke sighed. He observed the teacher arguing with Kiba for the twentieth time that pets where not allowed in classrooms, with minor interest. Sakura took the day to literally not shut up for a minute, and Naruto was avoiding him as always. Not that it mattered. He didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Sasuke-kun…" She purred seductively to his ear. He felt a small hand sliding through his thigh and finally landing on his crotch. "I can make you feel better…"

"Not today Sakura." He grunted, shoving her hand away.

"Eeeh? But…I thought you liked how I use my tongue…"

"I'm not in the mood, ok?" He took a deep breath. Man, she was being annoying.

"It's not Naruto again, is it?" Her voice deepened, like she was scolding him. "I mean, he knew I loved you since _ever_, he's just sulking!"

"It's not Naruto. Now shut up."

She pouted, and crossed her arms.

Sasuke sighed again, and tried to listen to Iruka and ignore his talking girlfriend. He needed to focus on something normal, something that kept his mind distracted. Although it is a little hard to focus on the last day of school before summer break, with all the classes being noisy and also having an energetic girlfriend constantly around you (1).

"Tenten invited us to her pool again. Wanna come?"

"I'll pass."

"Geez you're so anti-social…it would be good for you!"

It certainly would distract him, if it wasn't for the fact that the fancy hickey Orochimaru put on his nipple was still bruised. Not to mention the other bites…and his brother's hickey on the collarbone. Sakura would flip if she saw it. His friends would probably flip too. They sure wouldn't associate those violent 'love bites' with Sakura's teeth.

"_I like the way you moan my name."_

Goddammit! His fucking mind was like a broken record, always replaying that fucked up episode right there in the middle of the fucking classroom!

Why did Itachi have to do that? For gods why him? Was he trying to embarrass him?

If he was, he sure succeeded. He wasn't going to be able to forget that episode for weeks. Months! Hell, his brother has traumatized him for years! He was probably never going to jack off again! Maybe he should seek a shrink…

"Sakura?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"You have an older brother…right?"

"You've met my older brother, Sasuke-kun. Remember that day, when it was raining and I didn't have an umbrella and you had one, and I asked you to walk me home and-"

"Yeah, whatever. Did he ever…do weird things with you?"

"Weird things? Weird things like what?"

"Like…I don't know…touch you."

He didn't know what kind of answer was he supposed to get by making a stupid question like that. Maybe, just maybe, all older brothers had occasionally crazy fucked up moments and there was a scientific thesis about it somewhere…

"Touch me?" She frowned. "What do you mean 'touch me'?"

"Shit Sakura, like the way I touch you."

"You barely touch me." She uttered, making him sigh heavily in annoyance. "Unless when I can get you all horny, then your hands finally-"

"Yes." He cut her rambling sharply. "Like that, for example."

The girl eyed with a bewildered expression first, and then her face drew a grimace. "Eew! God no! That's disgusting!"

'_Like I thought. Itachi is unique._' He thought to himself, irritated.

He shouldn't have made that question, it only made him more unnerved. Itachi, the one he always idolized, the only one that could unleash his emotions when he was with him – happiness, sadness, admiration, envy, everything – the only person in the world that Sasuke (still) dreamt what it would be like to be in his shoes…damn. Why Itachi? Why him?

"It's not that I'm against incest" Sakura kept talking "I told you, I always suspected that Neji has a thing for his cousin. It's fine by me, love is love. Unless you count parental incest, that's just gross, but between brothers and sisters, and cousins…well, it's kinda weird, but I'm ok with it. But no way in hell I would ever have sex with my brother!"

"Why not?" Sasuke murmured.

He looked at the teacher again with an uninterested expression. It was more like a rhetorical question that blurted out subconsciously, but she answered it anyway.

"My _brother_? He's totally not my type! I mean, I love him and all that, but I can honestly say I do not find him attractive at all. I don't know why my friends say that he is cute, I mean, even Ino says it, but he is just…"

'_She just keeps talking…_' It was moments like these, that Sasuke tried to remind himself of why was he dating her.

"But if my brother was like yours, I think I wouldn't mind."

"What?" He flinched when she said that, and looked at her again.

"Well, your brother is hot! If I had I brother like that and he wanted to _touch _me, I don't think I would mind." She made a teasing smile.

Sasuke didn't take that statement well.

"Don't say that."

His voice was colder than ever. She undid her smile, worried.

"I-I'm kidding, Sasuke-kun. I mean, sure your brother is very attractive, but you're more attractive! I don't have the hots for Itachi if that's what you think!"

He grunted.

She had just made his day even worse. It was as if she was defending that it was acceptable for brothers to have a dirty intimacy if your brother was Itachi. Yes, Itachi was good-looking, he knew that. He always was best self. Always perfectly handsome, that bastard.

Sakura, however, was feeling the need to justify her comment, worried that her beloved boyfriend thought she would prefer his brother over him (like ever! Nevertheless, Sasuke-kun was, deep down, very insecure and she needed to guarantee him that he was the only one for her).

"I was just saying that if, _hypothetically_, Itachi was my brother, and I _never_ had met you, I would _perhaps _put prejudices apart …oh forget it, you're not even looking at me! Hey…are you blushing?"

He twitched.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts - thoughts about his perfect and fucked up brother - that he barely noticed his face getting warmer. Shit.

"It's hot in here."

"Ooh you're so cute when you blush! I would never ever prefer another guy over you. I love you so much Sasuke-kun..."

"Just shut up, Sakura."

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* * *

(1) I don't know exactly when summer break starts in Japanese junior high schools; I'll just assume they have only the August month. So today is like July 31st.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: In the broken nest there are no whole eggs

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The black bishop captured white pawn and stayed in E4. The white knight moved to D4 and stayed positioned in front of black bishop. The black rook moved to C6. The white knight captured the black rook; before long the black bishop has captured the white knight.

The Western chess pieces landing on the glassy white and black board was the only sound that was heard inside Madara's house. Outside, the crickets' melodies – the bugs' celebration of the hot summer nights – filled the silence left by the turned off jukebox.

Itachi frowned, and analyzed the move he just made. Not a very bright one… he should've seen that the black rook was just a sacrificial piece, for his white horse had advanced too much forward. He didn't think when he made that move. Half of his mind was elsewhere.

"Check." Madara said, after he put his black bishop in the way of Itachi's white king.

The younger of the two scanned the few pieces erected on the quadrangular board, and resume his graceless defeat: whenever he would move the king, he would be captured anyway.

The game was decided with after a few other moves, twenty-five minutes later.

Madara lifted his eyes from the game and threw his long wild black hair back over his shoulder. He smirked as he stood up from his black leather sofa and went to the bar behind Itachi. He soon reappeared with two glasses of red wine.

"You're going to tell me what's on your mind?" He asked, while he placed the glasses on the table, near the chessboard.

"What makes you think I have something on my mind?" The young Uchiha grabbed one of the glasses of wine and agitated it softly.

"You lost." Smirked the older man, who then lit a cigar, and sucked it pleasantly.

"It's not the first time I lost to you. After all, you taught me this game."

"True. But you never lost that quickly."

Madara took a long pull of his cigar and then let out a big mass of gray smoke in the air. He always smoked one of those after the game of chess he and Itachi played almost every week.

"It's been a tiresome week." Itachi took in a large gulp of his drink. "_Vin de Bourgogne_ (1), Madara?" He teased, in his flawless French accent. "You really are old."

Madara smirked. "I see your sense of taste is improving, Itachi. But this not Pinot Noir, my favorite. This is actually-"

"Côte de Beaune, _Aloxe-Corton Grand Cru_." He cut in casually. "Still, you should move on to other regions. France has more good wines, you know?"

"Impressive."

Madara was indeed impressed. He himself had difficulty in distinguishing between the Côte de Beaune wines. He was getting old though, and his sense of taste was getting senseless, too.

"But I like the Burgundy wines, I don't care what you say about the other wines. It's as the French say, '_de bon terroir bon vin'_ (2)."

"Hn. They also say '_qui ne risque rien n'a rien' _(3)." Itachi replied, before taking another gulp.

The other chuckled. "_Touché_." He lifted his glass, and gestured an unspoken toast, in which Itachi nodded with his glass, smirking. They both drank the wine in silent pleasure.

Madara repositioned himself on the sofa, crossed his legs; the sound of rubbing leather sounded over the silence of the room.

"So, what did my dear cousin talked about this time?"

He asked this to Itachi every time Fugaku arranged a party, especially one with suspicious figures like Hyuuga Hiashi and Orochimaru.

"North Korea." Itachi replied, monotonously.

"He keeps hitting on the same subject, isn't he? Foolish Fugaku... What's his plan, now?"

"He wants to send Sasuke there as an attempt to buy Orochimaru's power."

Madara widened his eyes. "Send Sasuke? Wait a minute…you never mentioned Orochimaru is in there."

"Oh yes, his official residence is in there."

"I know his official residence is in there. The thing is, you didn't mention it before."

Itachi looked at him, bluntly, and Madara chuckled at his expression.

"That's why you were so distracted in the game!" The older man pulled a crafty grin. "You were thinking of your little brother. Never thought of you as…_caring_, Itachi."

"What do you mean?"

"When I asked you about Fugaku's plan, the right answer should've been: to make an alliance of forces with Orochimaru, who announced finally at the party, that his official residence is in North Korea in front of Fugaku and the Hyuuga. And that confirms Orochimaru is powerful enough to make his move on his own, _but _he's willing to trade information with both men by telling them his residence location. Such information comes with a price obviously, and a fishy goal behind it. I didn't ask _how _the alliance was being settled, but that's only what you replied to me almost without thinking. This means, the fact that Fugaku is planning to send Sasuke there bothers you deeply."

Itachi shot him a sidelong glance and decided to ignore the comment. After he took another gulp, he shook his glass delicately, observing the dark-red liquid spinning around inside the transparent object.

Madara watched his chess partner's unaffected behavior in silent amusement.

"But you're not caring, Itachi." He said, breaking the heavy silence again.

"I'm not?" Itachi replied, stoically.

"No, you're not. You care for politics, that's a fact. You'd choose peace over war. You care for respect, and you have values. You value the dignity of the mind over material achievements. But you do not care for your family. You never did. You and I are the same, my dear relative." Madara smoked his cigar with a malicious grin. "I'm not really against war as you are, but other than that we are the same. So I know that feeling you have for Sasuke…I _recognize_ it."

Itachi lifted up his left eyebrow.

"What?"

Madara's grin widened, which made him look a bit out of character. At that point, he almost looked like an average farmer who just won the lottery.

"Why don't you join my organization, Itachi? I tell you one thing: you will never have your way with Sasuke as long as Fugaku is around."

'_My way? Does this guy…'_

"It's exactly what you're thinking. Don't worry, it's normal 'among' the Uchihas." He let out a hard laugh. "Really, it's absurdly normal. It's almost like a joke. Did you know that our great family was born of incest? Maybe that's why we are all fucked up!"

Outside had surprisingly started to rain, silencing the crickets. The light bulb started to dim, making Madara's complex look suddenly more sinister. For a short while, the dialogue between the two dark figures was suppressed. The only sound of the room came from the buzzing sound of the fly around the light, and the gentle water drops tapping smoothly against the glass of the window.

"Incest?" Itachi finally spoke.

"1860, nearly the end of Edo Period. Kondō Isami (4), the infamous Shinsengumi's deadly commander, marries the daughter of Matsui Yasogorō from the Shimizu-Tokugawa clan, a very prospective match for Isami. However, before the wedding ceremony began, he rapes his sister behind everyone's back."

He stood up and crossed the room to get to the jukebox, where he picked some American record and pushed the play button. "According to her diary, it was not the first time."

The music began to play, the guitar notes revealed the song to be an old country song. Madara never gave a damn about Japanese music, he always preferred the international 50's and 60's hits – especially the American ones.

"Well," he proceeded with his story-telling about the family history "she gets pregnant, and rapidly Isami finds her a husband to hide their sin. He was an artisan, and had no surname. Since the man worked a lot with wood, and was known by his unique fans, Isami blessed the wedding by authorizing them the use of the Uchiha surname. And once upon a time there were our progenitors… Ironic, huh?"

Madara let out another relaxed laugh. The music from the jukebox, a little muffled by the over usage of the sound speakers, fulfilled the silence around the house.

Itachi sighed.

"So you're telling me our family's ancestor is the son of rape between siblings. It wasn't that uncommon in Edo period."

"No, actually the baby turned out to be a girl." Madara uttered, after he sat back on his black leather sofa.

"A girl? A girl can't carry the Uchiha surname."

"Exactly." Madara grinned again. "She married her younger brother. That's what I'm telling you, incest is in our _genes._ By the way Itachi…have I ever told you about by my late lamented younger brother?"

* * *

One hour later Itachi was heading home, thinking about what Madara told him.

Since he was thirteen, when he met Madara through one of his uncle's birthday parties where the man was invited (and the family made a scandal by the presence of such unwanted figure), that he and Madara became...well, let's say good chess partners.

Madara was everything his family wasn't. Itachi was fond of their stimulating talks about politics and found the older man to be a good teacher occasionally. He learned a lot about the western culture with him: the art of appreciating wines, the variety of western music, and chess (where Itachi was becoming unbeatable). The man was extremely cultish and passionate about all of western civilization, especially American and European culture. He was always good company.

Itachi also learned a lot about his family – the past scandals of the Uchihas – thanks to Madara.

The Uchiha Company began with Madara's father, and the business flourished under Madara's leadership and his younger brother as a copartner. Complications arose when Madara decided to merge the company with a new American firm and betrayed the association they had for years with Senju Enterprises. This made the company members and actionists revolt against Madara's politics. One of the members was Fugaku, a rising businessman just newly married to a gorgeous woman, Mikoto. Fugaku is a distant relative of Madara – they both share the same great-grandfather – and a conservative loyal and very Japanese Uchiha. It turned out, after a violent five years crisis of the Uchiha Company, that Madara was 'dismissed' of the company's affairs and Fugaku was voted as their true representative.

Madara was not pleased. His answer for the betrayal was, and still is: _kill them all._ He is a true revolutionary, if you can call him that.

He believes that the human being is a cancer on this planet. Never ceasing to grow and always destroying its surroundings just to live comfortably. To him, you are just another virus out there who just wants to have it your way.

He said that the Uchihas were the worst type of cancer. The Fugaku's Uchihas were just a bump of leeches that only cared about getting richer and richer. They didn't care about principles anymore.

And he was right.

Nowadays, Uchihas were known as being more dangerous than any mafia out there. There was even a popular saying around Japan's underground world about them: _if you mess with a Uchiha, you mess with the devil himself._

But Itachi wasn't very lenient to Madara's plans.

Not that he was against it, no. Whenever he went to Madara's house, he looked forward to another relaxing chess game and some stimulating intellectual talk, away from his pathetic family and his pathetic life. Or whenever he got nauseated for what his father did for money – sponsoring wars in Iraq, illegally selling weapons to both fractions in Israel and Palestine (and did you know that the man had actually pondered if it was China or Indonesia that had cheaper handwork and more factories that employed minors?) – he headed to Madara's house to relax and have a good wine. Every time Madara tried to convince him to joining him, he thought more on it.

After all, he valued dignity over all humanity's doings. What his family was doing, was not so dignified.

Uchihas always thought that nothing could happen to them. _Wrong._ Even if you're the dominating virus, surpassing all the other ruling diseases, you should always expect another one to conquer you.

There's always room for another super-virus.

Or even an anti-virus. To clean up all the mess you made.

When Itachi reached home, he cleared his head off all those tiresome thoughts, and yawned, eager for some sleep. He climbed the stairs and, on his walk to his room, he stopped at his brother's bedroom. Everyone was sleeping, including Sasuke, the light was turned off. Sasuke…

God he was so tempting. Those sexy moans in the bathroom were reviving inside his head. He wanted to hear it again. He wanted to touch that soft skin again. _Feel _him again.

Also, he was slightly drunk off an expensive French wine.

He opened the door and entered inside, silently. The room was barely illuminated with the moonlight penetrating through the venetian blinds.

He saw his brother's framed face sleeping soundless with a peaceful expression, on the right corner of the room. The prodigy walked closer, until he was standing next to Sasuke's bed, and leaned over him. He felt the boy's rhythmic calm breathing on his face, and his own erection grew in his pants. Sasuke was probably the only decent thing that Fugaku produced, adversely to what the man might think.

He removed the blanket from the teenager's body down to his knees, and gazed upon the lean figure below him, sleeping stomach up with his face leaned to the right, turned to Itachi. His hair was messily spread over the pillow and his mouth was slightly detached, with dried lips waiting to be moistened. His right arm was next to his head, while the other was placed over his stomach. The baggy boxers were the only thing that the boy was wearing. (Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't like tight clothes so he never wore those sexy tight elastic boxers that Mikoto bought him. Oh well, maybe one day Itachi could convince him to wear them.)

He watched closer, as the pale chest of his brother moved slowly up and down during his breathings. The nipples had slowly stuck out due to the sudden lack of warmth, although it wasn't cold outside. Orochimaru's bites had finally disappeared, leaving only faint traces of his mouth.

With a finger, he traced the soft-defined lines of the raven's chest, feeling the still forming muscles of the lean body. He touched Sasuke's right nipple, where a small wound could still be spotted near the mamillary protuberance. It stiffened hard only by the slightest touch…hmm, sensitive.

He leaned closer and licked the tip of the nipple, very softly, in circular movements. A sigh came from Sasuke's sleeping face, his body breathed in heavier. Itachi licked around the circular pink surface, and then sucked the nipple slowly. Automatically he earned another sigh, this time deeper, and the chest below moved up and down faster than before.

Sasuke's body was really sensitive. That turned him on ever more…exploring and discovering all of Sasuke's sensitivity, and tasting all of that, arousing body was definitely one of his plans for the future.

But now, slightly-drunk-Itachi was more interested in the nipples' stimulation, Gods knows why. When you have alcohol in your blood, you venture to do the most unreasonable tasks that only your drunken mind can explain.

Therefore, slightly-drunk-Itachi resolved that he had nothing better to do at half past midnight than suck his brothers' nipples and try to provoke an erection just by doing it.

He sucked harder on the nipple, and with his fingers, he rubbed the other. He massaged and carefully twisted it until it was really hard. He kept doing this exercise, using the tip of the tongue to stimulate the other nipple, and in less than a minute he saw a swelling forming in the grey boxers.

He smirked in silent victory. Sasuke was so entertainingly responsive.

Without warning, Itachi felt the body beneath moving and he lifted his head, leaving the nipples. He looked at the raven's face, waking up with a bewildered expression.

The first thing Sasuke saw was his brother standing really close to him.

In his bedroom.

He was probably still dreaming…

"Itachi…?" He murmured, puckering up his brows. "What are y-"

He was silenced by a soft kiss from his brother. Was he dreaming? He sometimes had these weird dreams that made completely no sense at all…

Itachi sucked his lips, and with his tongue, parted them to taste the inside.

Sasuke felt his brother's tongue touching his own, provoking it, licking his teeth, and reaching the walls of his mouth. It felt good…it was a really good kiss. Really good…

Still half-asleep, he moved his tongue, playing with the invader's tongue, and tried to insert it in the other's mouth.

In Itachi's mouth.

Battling with Itachi's tongue in an erotic dispute for something, hungrily, and feeling his groin becoming hotter and hotter…

Suddenly, Sasuke snapped from his half-sleeping state, and 'woke up' to reality. He pushed Itachi away, violently, and hissed: "What are you doing?"

He couldn't fucking believe it. He was kissing his own brother!

…Again!

Itachi only smirked, not seeming to be affected by what happened at all.

_Again_.

"The same thing you were doing, Sasuke." He pointed to his brother's erection inside the grey boxers, and said with a teasing smile: "Seems that you were enjoying it."

Sasuke gasped when he saw his own pulsing hard-on. So that's why he was acting weird, all the blood from his head was rushing to his cock. Why was he hard?

"You really are sensitive…" Itachi smirked, and leaned forward to him until his face was few inches away from that pale tempting neck, breathing his younger brother's scent. "All that just from a kiss." He whispered, seductively.

"Wha-…No! Get off my bed!"

Inadvertently, Sasuke jolted and sat against the bed head, driving himself away from his brother's intimidating figure. His mind was flashing multiple thoughts, bringing back the incident that took place in the bathroom the other day. He had just woken up with his brother tongue-kissing him (and _no_, it wasn't the other way around too, he was asleep!) and a throbbing hard-on for no apparent reason.

Itachi saw his erection! That was embarrassing enough; there was no need for his brother keep to taunting him with that teasing smirk.

Why was Itachi still behaving like a pervert? Doesn't his girlfriend give him head enough?

"Maybe I should take care of that…first?" Itachi grasped his erection. Sasuke felt more blood pulse to his groin, and silenced a moan. Oh God, the same thing was repeating again…

"No! Please, go away..." He tried to push him away, and by doing it, he bumped the table lamp. The sound of the light bulb glass scattering on the ground broke the peaceful silence of the house.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow. "You're very agitated."

Sasuke gasped. "Agitated? You look like you want to rape me!"

Itachi grabbed Sasuke's chin and approached his lips.

"Would you like that?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. His brother's face was an inch away from his and his breath felt like it was burning his skin.

"What's that noise?"

The raven wavered when he heard his father's voice, and heavy steps approached his bedroom. Itachi didn't even bother to remove himself from Sasuke, and remained in the same position when his father arrived to the room, wearing a long velvet robe, custom-made (few people knew it but Fugaku was vain like a peacock).

"What the hell…?" Fugaku gasped. It wasn't every day that a father arrives to his youngest son's bedroom at a certain hour of the night where everyone should be sleeping, and finds his two sons in a compromising position. Not to mention that the younger was…er…had an unseemly swelling in his boxers. And….is that Itachi's hand on…

Itachi let go of Sasuke and stood up from the bed, unaffectedly. Sasuke remained with his back flat against the wall, half-shocked, looking at his father with a guilty look.

"Sasuke! Are you seducing your own brother?"

That's the brilliant statement of Fugaku before staying mute for a minute, trying to judge the situation.

Itachi almost laughed. Almost.

He just remained silent, leaned against the wall, observing half-amused at his pathetic father misinterpreting the whole situation. He was pretty sure it was on purpose – Fugaku only saw what he wanted, literally.

"What?" Sasuke shouted, incredulous, and jumped from the bed. He almost tripped on the blanket while doing it.

"What's wrong with you, boy? First my clients now your own brother?" Fugaku was screaming, his face was getting redder. He stepped closer to Sasuke, walking half the room dangerously.

In normal circumstances, Sasuke would step back afraid of his father's reactions, or ashamed to disappoint his father. But this time he was upset, and angry. Father saw them, Itachi was almost on top of him, in his fucking room! How is _that_ his fault?

"I didn't do anything!" He screamed to his father. He was so angry with all that misunderstanding that he didn't care if he was raising his voice to his father.

"Don't lie to me young man!" Fugaku raised a hand.

"I'm not lying, damn it!"

"Are taking drugs behind my back?"

"Wha…? No! What the hell? You should be checking on Itachi instead! I bet he mistook Viagra for sleeping pills-"

_SLAP!_

Sasuke's speech was cut sharp with when an unexpected hand hit his face. His father used such strength in the hit that his head almost detached from the neck. Fugaku slapped him with the back of his hand, with his fingers half-bended, so the bones of the joints would provoke maximum impact on his face.

"What's going on here?"

Mikoto appeared in the room, woken up by their screams. Dressed only with a white satin nightgown, hair disheveled and face without make-up, she still looked extremely beautiful. It wasn't only her looks, but the fact that she also was an intelligent woman, it has made Itachi wonder several times about what in the world went through her head when she accepted marrying Fugaku.

"Oh dear…" She raised a hand to her mouth, slightly shocked when she saw her husband standing furious next to a Sasuke with a swollen cheek and a blood coming from the nose.

"Mikoto! Go back to bed!" Fugaku ordered, without decreasing the sound volume of his voice.

"But dear! Please tell me-"

"I'm not repeating myself again!" Fugaku shot a dangerous look to his wife, making her step back. "I'll take care of this. Your younger son was being indecent again."

"Indecent?"

"Yes. We will talk tomorrow. Now, just go to bed. I promise this won't take long."

Mikoto hesitated, but another dangerous look from Fugaku and she was walking away from the room, heading to the biggest bedroom of the house.

Maybe her intelligent brain just went on hiatus during night hours. Generally, she would be deeply concerned of the way Fugaku was treating Sasuke.

Fugaku waited for a while in silence until he heard his wife closing their room's door, and then he pulled Saskue's ear violently, making him grimace. "If I see you again in a shameful act with anyone, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life!"

"But I'm telling you it's not-"

Fugaku didn't give a chance for Sasuke to justify, because he slapped him again. Or better speaking, he punched him, this time, since he used a closed fist and so much more strength that the boy fell on the floor with a loud groan.

"Don't be rude to me!"

He landed a heavy kick on his stomach, making Sasuke cringe in pain. Fueled by rage, Fugaku was planning to land a second one if it wasn't for Itachi, who uttered in a loud voice:

"Father! That's enough."

Fugaku eyed his older son, who was still in the room, watching the scene with an unreadable expression.

"Itachi! You need to understand that Sasuke is-"

"It's not Sasuke's fault." Itachi replied, with a rough voice. His cold eyes were fixed on his father's. "You know that very well."

Fugaku's eyes widened.

If the man only saw the things he wanted to see, he did not like to be pointed to reality when he did not want to see reality. He sighed heavily, glanced quickly to the curled up body below him, and walked towards the door. Before he left the room he directed a quick look to Itachi, one that the elder understood right away: it was a silent order, requesting a talk far from Sasuke's ears. Then, Fugaku disappeared from the room, and soon he was heard stepping down the stairs.

Itachi gazed at his younger brother's form, rising slowly from the ground with a hand around his stomach. The blood from his nose had already dried, but his lower lip had a small wound still open and bleeding. His right cheek was announcing an ugly purple bruise.

His eyes were wet.

"Make sure you disinfect those wounds."

That's the only thing Itachi said to Sasuke, before the elder left the room to talk to his father. His long aching fists opening on the way.

.

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* * *

(1) _[French]: "Burgundy wine"._ (Burgundy is a region of France)

(2)_ [French];[Proverb]: "A good soil yields good harvest"_.

(3)_ [French];[Proverb]: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained"_ .

(4) I don't think I can use real people in here, but it's just for this time! And everything about the man is true, except for the rape part. I don't think he even had a sister.

* * *

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**a/n:** [Edit: May 27th, 10] Please don't automatically link the incestuous past of the Uchihas in this story to deformed babies. As I don't wish to receive more reviews that focus this problematic but the story itself, I'm going to makes this simple: the National Society of Genetic Counselors says that having a child with your first cousin increases the risk of birth defect from about 3-4% to only about 4-7%. With siblings, the risk might increase more 2-3%. Still, as they also agree, it's significantly lower than what was previously assumed, and that equally does not justify the incest taboo. This risk can be serious though, if inbreeding is repeatedly practised throughout generations.

I will eventually post an article of this matter (incest) on my LJ account. You're welcomed to discuss it there (when I finish writing it).


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes

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Itachi wasn't an easy person to rub the wrong way. It generally takes a lot to set his nerves on edge, for his patient personality always prevailed. There are few who can testify after angering the prodigy.

It took a _lot _to get under his skin, simply because he doesn't feel offended by your insignificant remarks. He doesn't care for your doings; he doesn't care for your existence at all. Nothing around impressed him enough to make him express any kind of honest emotion. Whether it is admiration, envy, disgust, or what you daily feel. Half of your sentences start with "I this, I that…", and your _I_ is not worthy of Itachi's attention.

I.

That's the problem with men, they can't stop abusing the word "I". Even the most modest ones are terribly egocentric.

They don't even know what that "I" that they're talking about, since they don't know who they are. They fail to recognize that the existence of the spiritual _I_ interceded for the physical _I_; there's a conscience beneath every action. A conscience that is imminent in its pure form and therefore cannot be molded by external facts.

Only your actions can be molded.

That conscience is your inner guidance that tells you your fears. Not every man has the same conscience, yet they act like they do.

You see, when one man's conscience dictates an intrinsic fear for something (sharks, mammoths, monsters, red Indians, women, Jews) he will classify it as 'evil'. As oppose to what's 'good' – evil and good only exist in comparison inside your own mind.

Evil becomes what the conscience cannot not forgive. To fight against those fears, men wrote scriptures, built laws, and punished those who broke any one of those.

Of course, men cannot carry the weight of such tremendous responsibility. So they invented a God.

With a metaphysical outsider to take responsibility for your actions, you can choose more 'evil' things to put on your list. When that list comes too big, you put an organization in control it with judgment systems. Then you build monasteries, churches, governments, and White Houses. Then other consciences come along, risk a few things from your evil list, just to put on new ones. At the end of it, you get entire centuries of societies based on 'moralities' that are ruled by 'what to do' things and 'what not do to things'.

You know, the real problem with men, is that they are more preoccupied in invoking other consciences, other 'I's' to their sentences, that they fail to notice their own. They keep contaminating themselves with bullshit, they seem only to move due to influence by what another said. What Jesus said, what Marx said, what Hitler said – and because one cannot access his own conscience, since its contaminated -_corrupted, tainted, raped_- by others, one is easily drawn into wars to fight against 'evil things' that he doesn't even fear!

Paradox? No. _Pathetic._

In the end, they call themselves 'intelligent beings'. What pitiful creatures.

That's why Itachi doesn't care for you. You talk, brag, yell, opine, and hope someone will listen and praise you. What does your stupid "I", contaminated by your father, your God, your teacher, has to offer that is so interesting?

The Uchihas are all like that. _Fugaku's Uchihas_.

An entire family contaminated by one conscience that's completely rotten inside – Fugaku.

Fugaku only cares for one thing: 'The Best'.

If it's not 'The Best', defined by his own standards, then it's not worth it. The problem is; Fugaku is not the best. His own standards do not apply to him. He's neglecting what he is, his own 'I', and invoking Itachi's all the time. He is so concerned about appearances that he does not realize why he's become so desperate, so anguished - why he takes sleeping pills at night. Why he can't have sex with Mikoto for long periods of time. He doesn't realize he's desperate, because he can't accept his own conscience, what he truly is.

A pitiful lowlife.

Not only Fugaku, all of the Uchihas are like that. Except for Sasuke, probably.

Sasuke was the only stimulating thing for Itachi. He really didn't know why exactly, but he couldn't help in finding Sasuke's actions – his attitudes, laughs, pouts – never-endingly entertaining. The poor boy only wanted affection; a weakness for the conscience, yes, but an adorable one.

Itachi sometimes wondered: how would Sasuke react if all the affection was taken away from him? Would he let himself be contaminated, corrupted, and attacked by other consciences? Would he be strong enough to fight them off?

Those were only harmless thoughts. It only occurred when Itachi was really bored. He was bored most of the time, sometimes more than other times. That's why nothing interested him, nothing amused him; _life _was boring. The responsibilities of living were pathetic, it made him yawn.

So all he did was take some amusement in his family's pathetic brags, then get bored, then play some chess with Madara and talk about interesting and pointless things (after all, isn't living a paradox in itself?), and then…probably spend some time with Sasuke, if he's around. Or, lately, trying to fuck him.

You see, it's really hard to ruffle his feathers, because you need to make him care first. Yesterday, Fugaku did, he really did it this time.

* * *

_(One day before)_

It was late afternoon when Fugaku received some visits to his household. The maid guided the visitors to the spacious living room, where Fugaku welcomed them after stepping out of the office room. Mikoto was already asking them if they were sure they didn't want anything to eat.

His brothers were there, along with their older sons. Mai and her father were there too. The Uchiha Company was certainly the motive of the visit. Mai was probably there to visit Itachi.

"Itachi is still out with friends." Fugaku said to the beautiful girl. "If you want my driver to take you to him…"

"That's ok, Fugaku-san. I know he's coming home soon. Is…Sasuke-chan home?

"Sasuke? Yes, he's in his room…why?"

"I just needed to talk to him."

"Sure, sure. The maid will show you to his room."

"Oh, I don't need that! I know this house really well. Besides, Shisui is coming with me."

Fugaku arched an eyebrow. What could they possibly want with that brat? Judging by the look of his brother Shin, he probably suggested them to 'take a walk' while the parents discussed private matters. Although older than Itachi, Shisui wasn't generally authorized to participate in their private matters. In fact, none of his cousins were, except for Itachi and Fugaku's older brother's sons – who were almost thirty and working at the company already. Seeing the serious face of Shin, Fugaku wondered if he should send Mikoto 'for a walk' too.

While climbing the stairs, Shisui asked Mai:

"I still don't know why I need to come with you."

"You will be my witness. I told you." She replied, bluntly.

He sighed. "I'm telling you, Itachi will never believe you."

She stopped, and shot him a dangerous glare that made him flinch. Mai could be really scary sometimes.

"I know Itachi-kun won't believe me. I know that _very well_. Itachi-kun thinks I'm stupid, but I'm not." The fierceness in her voice killed all the previous cuteness and grace she showed to Fugaku. It didn't impress Shisui, he knew her too well. She took a deep breath, and glanced down the corridor, where Sasuke's bedroom door was located.

"My father needs some deal with Orochimaru. I don't know what deal it is, I only know that Fugaku didn't approve because Itachi-kun said it's no good."

"Itachi is a genius. He must have a reason-"

"Are you that stupid, Shisui?" She narrowed her eyes. "Haven't you noticed how different he is lately?"

"He's spending more time at home, but-"

"Correction: he's spending more time with Sasuke."

"So?"

She sighed furiously.

"He has a _thing _for his little brother." She spited.

"And I don't mean brotherly caring. I mean something unnatural, something…" She wasn't able to finish.

Shisui frowned.

"Look, I know Itachi sometimes seems a bit fucked up, with all those theories and philosophies..." He talked with a slow voice, eyeing her as if she was some 'special case'.

"And I still think Itachi was kidding when he said he thought that _Se7en_ was a comedy movie. But what you're suggesting is _way _beyond limits! One thing being a wacko; it's another being gay _and_ incestuous!"

"Believe it or not. I tell you one thing: I won't let that brat" and she pointed to Sasuke's bedroom door "take my father's deal and Itachi away from me."

With that said, she stepped towards the kid's room. Shisui shrugged and followed her.

Downstairs, a private Uchiha reunion took place, after Mikoto politely excused herself to water the flowers of their garden. Topic of discussion: North Korea.

Orochimaru's deal had been nagging on those businessmen's minds for quite a while…but this time, should they ignore Itachi's opinion? Sure, the prodigy was responsible for half of their success, if not more, but they couldn't place every affair on a nineteen-year-old! Fugaku needed to understand that his precious son's words should not be taken in every single time they wanted to close a deal, no matter how high his I.Q. was!

The discussion went on for about twenty minutes until they heard a scream upstairs. Recognizing his daughter's voice, Mai's father immediately stood up. Fugaku and the others followed him upstairs.

In the corridor they saw the beautiful girl with her hair in a mess, holding tightly a ripped blouse, next to Sasuke's room. Shisui was on the right with an unreadable expression. Sasuke appeared in the corridor almost at the same time they reached there.

He was _shirtless._

"What's going on here?" Mai's father shouted. She came running to him right away, seeming upset.

"Father! Sasuke-chan, he…" She started sobbing.

"What the hell did you do, boy?" Fugaku shouted, heading to Sasuke in dangerous pace.

Sasuke was still standing in the same position in the corridor, with bared chest, looking completely bewildered as he didn't know what was going on. When his father grabbed his arm in a brute way, he responded:

"I-I didn't do anything!"

"Liar!" Mai screamed. "I never thought you could…you're a pervert!"

"It is disgraceful!" Her father kept shouting.

"Hey, c'mon…" One of Fugaku's brothers tried to appease the situation. "I'm sure it was just an unfortunate accident. I mean, boys these days don't know how to control their hormones…"

"No son of mine does a thing like that to a lady!"

"But I didn't do anything I swear!" The boy tried to convince the father, desperately.

"Then why are you shirtless boy? You're going to tell me it magically disappeared? Huh? You disrespectful brat… Have you no shame in yourself?"

Sasuke grimaced when his father grasped his arm tighter and shook him violently, making him bump against the wall painfully. Knowing how unlikely it was for his own father to believe him, he tried to call for the only witness of the scene.

"Tell them Shisui! He saw it, I didn't even touch her!"

Everybody glared at Shisui, who looked like he rather wanted to be somewhere else.

He bit his lip. He was planning on giving them just a shrug, until he saw Mai glaring at him too. Damn. He hated how she glared at people.

"Maybe it's hormones." That's what he said.

Sasuke gasped, and became speechless.

"That's it! You're grounded young man! You're going to stay in your room until I decide a proper way for you to repent for what you did!"

He tossed the boy into his room, and shut the door. Grabbing the skeleton key he always had in his pocket, he locked Sasuke's door. After sighing heavily, Fugaku faced Mai and her father, both still looking rather outrageous.

"I'm so terribly sorry about what happened. If there's anything we can do to make you forget about this unfortunate accident…"

"That boy" Mai's father pointed to said boy's closed room, furious. "is _perverse_. What he did was unforgivable. If he wants forgiveness, he needs to prove himself worthy of it!"

He took in a deep breath, trying to calm his rage.

"You should send him to Orochimaru."

* * *

It's really hard to ruffle Itachi's feathers, but Fugaku managed to do it.

It amazed him how annoyed he was with his father's foolishness. The last time Itachi was so annoyed was when he was molested by a teacher without giving him permission. He said he didn't want to, was that so hard to respect? (Yes, yes, Sasuke says he doesn't want it, but he does. His body desires it. His conscience wants him. It's a completely different situation).

Anyway, the teacher got what he deserved: wheel chair for the rest of his life. Itachi is sure next time that teacher will respect another's will.

That's another problem with men: they seem to have a hard time paying the consequences for their actions. After all, they didn't invent the word "karma" for nothing. Humans should all be aware of their selfish deeds, for its consequences always come back sooner or later, and three times worst (so they say).

Regardless, Fugaku stepped out the line yesterday.

When Itachi arrived home yesterday evening, and his father was already waiting of him in the living room, he didn't anticipate what was about to hear.

"_I've already decided, Itachi."_ Fugaku spoke. "_Tomorrow I'll sign the deal with Hiashi and Sasuke will be married to Hinata by the end of next week_."

Itachi remained impassive.

"_Why so sudden?"_

"_Your brother went too far this time. I know it's a bit early to marry him, but I cannot afford to have him single and… seducing people."_

It looked like he had a hard time pronouncing that word.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow. He was pretty sure Orochimaru was not in Japan right now. Who could possibly have Sasuke 'seduced' to put Fugaku so upset?

"_Who?"_

"_Mai."_ Fugaku uttered, with the most serious face on earth.

He was so serious that Itachi almost laughed.

"_Mai?"_

"_Aren't you shocked? It's your girlfriend, Itachi!"_

"_She's not my girlfriend."_ He replied coldly.

"_What happened?"_

Fugaku grunted something inaudible before he resumed telling of the peculiar situation that occurred in their home.

"…_And the poor girl's blouse all ripped!"_

"_A blouse? She usually doesn't wear blouses. With this heat, she prefers tank tops."_

"_Are you saying your girlfriend is lying?"_

"_Yes."_

His face remained stoic as ever.

"_The ripped blouse is the typical image of a typical rape scene tragedy. It causes more dramatic impact than a tank top, much so because it's easier to rip. It's just another association of a sign/significance that TV shows have induced in popular culture. When a girl appears with a ripped blouse, people automatically assume she was victim of a sexual crime."_

Fugaku frowned.

"_I guess the way you choose to deal with this is different than I expected. But that doesn't change my opinion. I'm sending Sasuke to Orochimaru."_

"_What?"_

"_I believe spending some time under Orochimaru's care, will teach him the true meaning of responsibility and his duty for this family. It's is the best I can do for the boy right now."_

"_What duty? He's only fourteen!"_

"_Fourteen and already acts like a slut, that's what he is! Look what he did to you the other night!"_

Itachi narrowed his eyes. Did Fugaku really enjoy to act like a biased idiot?

"_You know very well what happened, _father_. If you don't, please let me to elucidate it for you: I was in his room, I was slightly drunk and I decided to have a little fun w-"_

"_SHUT UP! Don't you even try to suggest another thing after that shameless act you've pulled!" _

He was controlling his rage; Itachi noticed by the tone of his voice. His cheeks were red from the fury. So he always knew what happened, that son of a bitch.

Finally, after a taking a deep breath, Fugaku said the statement he should not have said.

The sentence of his death penalty.

"_In three weeks Sasuke will be heading to North Korea, where he will complete junior high school, under the care of Orochimaru."_

Human beings are selfish by nature. They build whole societies ruled with moralities, judgment systems invented by other humans, and written in Scriptures for their own selfish needs. Yet these pathetic creatures are not even able to follow it most of the times.

It's not the selfishness that makes them pitiful, no. Selfishness is natural, and Mother Nature is not pitiful. What makes human beings pitiful is their inability to accept their animalist raw nature. Their incapacity to comprehend when another human being does the same thing as them.

When another man decides to act on his selfishness too.

.

.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The devil can quote Scripture for his own ends

.

.

"All set?"

"Yes."

"Did you check the bombs?"

"Yes."

"Did you check the security-"

"Yes, Madara. Everything is set." Itachi snorted, slightly annoyed.

"How much time do we have?"

Itachi took a quick glance at the antique grandfather clock in the room before he replied:

"About thirty minutes. I don't want to be late."

"Good." Madara turned the jukebox. "How about a game of chess?"

"…Sounds good."

Madara smirked and sat on his leather sofa, in front of a table with a chessboard already prepared. Itachi sat across from him; as usual, he always played with the white pieces. Madara liked to play with the black pieces, the ones that never made the first move.

Itachi moved one of his pawns and the game started. As the game occurred, the music from the jukebox filled the room with joyful rock hits.

After a while, Madara stood up and changed the music, to play a calm, melodramatic song from some European singer. The music's mournful tune seemed like an apocalyptic prelude for what was about to happen, in less than three hours.

"What's this?" Itachi asked, referring to the playing song.

"It's _fado_."

"_Fado_?"

"A popular Portuguese music genre. The word comes from the Latin '_fatum'_. It means-"

"Fate." Itachi moved his rook to capture one of Madara's black pawns. "So you know Portuguese too?"

"No, I just like this song." He moved one of his black knights. "My brother knew Portuguese. As a devoted Japanese Christian, he learned the language just to be able to read the original teachings of Francis Xavier." (1)

"Didn't know he was so religious." Itachi moved one of his bishops next to Madara's black king.

"He was an idiot, that's what he was." Madara freed his black queen from the initial position and put it into action, by capturing the white bishop. "Always whimpering about 'God this, God that…', when his God explicitly disapproved of the things we've done."

He sighed, and crossed his hands under his chin. Itachi moved one of his white pawns.

"He was weak…he couldn't accept our love." Madara continued, and gazed the chessboard with vague eyes.

If Itachi didn't know him any better, he would say that the old man – the neo-revolutionary soul who lived in the future and fought against the immobility of the past – was being oddly nostalgic.

Madara moved his black knight to capture the white pawn, and kept monologizing with the same vague eyes.

"His God was always between us, and eventually led him to his death. Another poor conscience, killed by his own faith. And you know what, Itachi?"

"Hn?"

"Sasuke reminds me a lot of my brother."

Itachi lifted up an eyebrow. He didn't quite get what Madara was trying to say.

"How so…?"

"He's weak." The older Uchiha took a brief pause before he resumed his speech. "He will never understand the special 'brotherly' bond that's in our blood. I would never _endure_ it. Even if you keep him, if you insist too much he would eventually break and die on your hands. "

"…" Itachi moved his eyes away from Madara and placed them on the chessboard again, frowning.

Madara knew his relative very well. He knew that Itachi was opaque; it was very hard to know what he was thinking or feeling when his facial muscles barely moved, and his voice barely changed. That's why he found it so amusing to study the little change of his features, because now he knew that when Itachi frowned like that – two wrinkles appearing between the eyebrows – it meant that something was bothering him.

So, he smirked: "What's the matter?"

Sighing, Itachi leaned back in his seat. He placed his left elbow on the sofa's arm and rested his temple on the tip of two fingers.

"I wasn't considering killing Sasuke."

Madara undid his smirk.

"And what would you do with the brat? Tell me, I want to hear it."

"Keep him." Itachi uttered with bold conviction, making his relative inadvertently grimace in disapproval. "I want to raise him until he is legally an adult."

"You want to r_aise_ him?" Madara spitted. "You mean, as a 'father'? Attending school meetings, scolding him when he gets a C? Tell him to make his bed and clean up his bedroom?" He uttered the last sentence while oppressing a mocking laugh.

Itachi didn't like the sarcastic tone of Madara's voice. Not one bit. Even if he had to agree that his strange new wish of wanting to raise Sasuke was somewhat out -of-character of him – he just wanted to take care of his property. Though, from where that parental urge towards his little brother came, he did not know; he only knew he would certainly not be satisfied with 'just fuck Sasuke and then kill him', as Madara suggested.

After all, there was a deep, hidden reason that motivated him to do what he was about to do, and that had nothing with do with supporting Madara's revolution against all the Uchiha.

But Madara didn't need to know about that. Therefore, Itachi chose to remain silent before Madara's sarcastic inquiries, patently.

"I waited for years, respected his wishes, pretended to understand his fears, so my brother would finally surrender to my desires. And instead of being recompensed for my waiting, that idiot died on me! I'm telling you, don't waste your patience on weak people. That's why you'll do a favor to yourself and tonight have a great night with your little brother. Do what you want with him, and then kill him. Save yourself the trouble of 'parental' responsibilities."

Madara moved one of his chess pieces, stood up from his seat and advanced towards Itachi. He sat close next to the prodigy and put an arm behind him over the sofa's back.

"You and I are the same, Itachi, as our brothers are. That's why you should trust in my empiric knowledge about…family matters. Also," he leaned forward until he was really close to the impassive face of his young relative, his nose only an inch away from Itachi's. "I have much more experience than your brother could ever have in…other things."

Madara placed a soft, faint kiss on the corner of Itachi's lips and retreated, back to his seat.

Itachi didn't react to Madara's perky kiss. He chose to stay still, being his almighty nonchalant self; he gave a deserved pert reply:

"So you failed with your brother, and now you're trying to 'warn me'. I got to say that, with your way of doing things, it's no wonder why the poor Christian got scared of your… 'love'."

Madara glared at his chess partner silently, clearly not amused at the insolent comment. He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Itachi was ignoring him, and made his final move of the game.

"Check." Itachi's smirk widened. He was truly finding the fact_ funny,_ that he hit such a sensitive spot of the older Uchiha.

Sighing, Madara leaned to grab his box and pulled out one of his Cuban cigars. They both remained silent while Madara cut the edge of the cigar and lit the fat rolled bundle of tobacco leaves.

Itachi eyed the grandfather clock again and stood up. "It's time. I'm going now."

He turned his back on him and walked away to the door, without saying another word. By the time he was grabbing his jacket, Madara called him:

"Itachi."

The younger Uchiha turned around to eye the older man, still seated on the leather sofa with the Cuban cigar.

"Remember my words. Don't leave anyone alive."

* * *

Our choices depend on nothing else but us, human beings. There is no outer entity that can justify our actions. Therefore, all the responsibility of this dying world falls upon Man itself. Every choice we made beholds us to the obligation to be responsible for our own acts, and that every choice provokes a change that cannot be undone.

Humans molest the world as if it is their own personal project, and justify it by invoking their own personal God's name. When their personal project unfolds unexpected reprisals, they blame the Devil, the TV commercials, and Marilyn Manson.

What humans fail to notice is that they are the only ones responsible. They are God and the Devil. They are the promising beginning and the terrifying end, the ultimate cause of the deterioration of nature.

Evil can only be defeated by another evil.

Itachi took a long slurp of his drink, and took a look around. His father was at the center of the hall, still receiving guests; Mikoto was standing next to him. Almost all the Uchiha family and Uchiha Company members were there; only two members were yet to arrive. Itachi was counting all of them, certifying that nobody was missing the great Uchiha party, held by Uchiha Fugaku, to celebrate the engagement of Fugaku's younger son.

Uchihas loved parties. They threw a party every once in a while, for the most insignificant reasons. Every time a Uchiha was born, there was a party. Birthday, another party. If a Uchiha got engaged, there was a party. If said Uchiha was an important one, like Fugaku's son, then there were two parties: one for Uchihas only, and another with the bride's family.

That day's party was for Uchihas only, and it was going well apparently; people looked joyful and chatty, like they were eager to come to the party. Even though the last party was what, two weeks ago? Not to mention Sasuke's birthday party three weeks ago.

Yeah, Uchihas were really party-whores.

The funniest thing of it is that the main motif of the party was not present. But nobody cared, as long as there was a party.

Sasuke was still in his room, sulking. Fugaku told him three hours before the party started that he was going to marry the Hyuuga girl, and the kid reacted badly, shutting himself in his bedroom. It wouldn't last long though, if it had to be, Fugaku would drag Sasuke out of his room by his hair.

The maid brought the two other guests. Finally, everyone was there and the hour was reaching.

He felt his heart beat faster.

Anxiety? No…

Nervousness. He was human after all. There were so many ways to fail the plan, if he wasn't careful. Too many. His heart was beating madly.

His cell started vibrating. He answered almost immediately.

"Yes?"

"_Too quickly."_

It was a strange voice on the phone, an austere male voice.

"_Are you nervous?"_ It took a while for Itachi to recognize who it was: Pein.

"A bit." He confessed.

He was surprised that Pein had called him, as he had barely talked to the strange guy. Itachi only saw the orange-haired man twice at Madara's house, and they didn't exchange more than five or six words with each other.

Pein was a silent and extremely quiet individual, with very intriguing almond-like grey eyes that seemed to be constantly scrutinizing everything. However, the most peculiar characteristic of the man was his piercing mania. There were probably more holes in his body than in Swiss cheese.

"_You still have some time."_ Pein uttered from the other side of the line. Then he paused for a while, tapping something on his computer. _"Madara said you have forty minutes."_

Itachi took a glimpse at the guests in the hall, and scowled.

"But everyone has arrived. I can start moving now."

"_He says he's doing a favor to you."_

"A favor?"

He heard Pein tapping more on his computer before he responded. _"His exact words: 'Itachi should avail himself of that time to say goodbye to Sasuke.' Don't forget, forty minutes."_

With that, he hung up.

'_Say goodbye to Sasuke?'_

"Hi there, misanthropic."

Mai, who was suddenly standing across from him, hardly covered with a strapless dress, interrupted his thoughts. Shisui was beside her, along with two other cousins.

"Itachi-kun, you look so handsome!" A female cousin commented, smiling stupidly. She always said that whenever they met at parties, as if she wasn't taught any other vocabulary.

"What are you doing here, man? The party had already started!" Shisui spoke, also smiling stupidly.

You see why Uchihas were such party-whores? They were just there for the party. They didn't even know what they were celebrating.

They didn't realize Sasuke wasn't even there.

"Why don't you go ahead, go drink, or eat something." Mai suggested. "I and Itachi-kun will join you soon."

They obeyed her, leaving the two of them alone. Shisui casted a strange look at them before he left. Lately, his so-called best friend has been casting him weird looks.

Well, that didn't matter.

Mai was standing in front of him, and approached him in careful steps, smiling seductively.

"So tell me…" She started. "Why are you still here, alone? Is something bothering you?"

"No." He replied to her, with some bitterness. His heart was still racing and now, as he realized the possibility of having Mai tailing him everywhere was only making the frenetic beating worse.

He gulped, trying to maintain his apparent calm composure. He had to make sure she wasn't going to be in his way.

"What do you want?"

Her smile faded.

"You're so mean to me." She pouted.

Her lately constant pouts had really started to annoy him.

"I'm just concerned about you. You're different lately."

"I'm fine." He prepared to leave her, but she stopped him by blocking his way.

"Are you going to meet Sasuke?" She asked. Her voice had changed drastically, from an artless tone to an accusing one. "In his _bedroom_?"

He lifted an eyebrow, somewhat impressed by the suggesting tone she used to pronounce 'bedroom'.

"I'm not stupid, Itachi-kun." She continued. "I know something is going on with you two. Something very wrong."

He lifted another eyebrow. Wow. He thought she was too dumb to notice it, even after he unintentionally shouted his brother's name the last time he fucked her.

"Is there something worthy of my time you want to tell me, Mai?"

She clenched her teeth.

"Are you…in love with…Sasuke?" Those words clearly fought their way out of her mouth.

"No." He bluntly replied. It was true.

He didn't love anyone. Love only makes you stupid. Just look at Mai.

She sighed, relieved with his answer.

"Oh, I thought that you were having-"

"But I do want to fuck him."

That was true.

Her speech died as she took her time to digest his words.

"…W-what?"

Oh her look was priceless. She became completely speechless with a dumb expression stamped on her face.

It was kinda funny, really… but he shouldn't have said that. Now it was too late.

He approached her ear, and whispered with a seductive voice: "How about we go to a room…Mai?"

A shiver ran through her spine. That voice…Itachi didn't talk like that to her for a very long time. She could melt just by hearing that sexy voice.

"But… you said…"

"Forget what I said." He blurted. He gently patted her wrist with a nod and a soft smile, he commanded her to follow him.

Without exchanging any more words, they crossed the noisy room in the direction of the stairs, to the rooms above.

* * *

Shisui sighed while he watched Itachi climbing up the stairs with Mai. She had certainly resolved her issues with him – or probably Itachi just didn't care for what she did. Though it did surprise Shisui seeing those two acting like a couple again, as if nothing had happened before.

Since Mai told him her suspicions about Itachi's sexual orientation, Shisui hadn't been able to have a good night sleep. He was even more shocked when he asked his father if he noticed anything "off" about Itachi. His father told him that his cousin apparently visited one of Orochimaru's prostitution houses.

Finally, everything made sense.

Mai told him the last time they had sex was three weeks ago, which was odd, because Itachi was on vacation from college. He had all the free time in the world to spend with Mai. Though, instead of choosing a hotel room to have sex with her, he chose to stay at home.

Very odd.

Itachi never cared about his family. Occasionally Itachi enjoyed watching movies with his little brother and spending some time with him, but not_ all the time._

So what the hell happened? Does that mean that Mai was right? Had Itachi developed…immoral feeling for his brother?

It annoyed Shisui just thinking about it. Itachi was not just his best friend; he was his role model, his idol, everything he wished to be. Itachi having romantic feelings for Sasuke…it was just not right! How could such a thing happen? What did the kid do to be able to _corrupt_ his Itachi?

No wonder Fugaku complained so much about the brat. That dirty little slut, he probably was the one who provoked Itachi with that little angelic face! That-

"Shisui…is something bothering you?" The voice of one of his female cousins interrupted his thoughts.

His fists were aching and he loosened them a bit.

He didn't realize that he was clenching his fists so hard in the first place!

"No...everything is fine, don't worry."

"Hey Shisui, don't you think Mikoto looks so hot in that dress?" A male cousin asked him.

"Don't say that, Eki!"

"What? I'm just saying the truth!"

"Don't talk about your aunt like that if you only have dirty intentions." Shisui snorted to his cousin with some hidden hostility.

His cousins stopped the giggling to eye him in mild surprise, not sure how to interpret Shisui's words. Shisui was known for his good humor and carefree attitude, and that evening he was rather broody.

Shisui, instead of explaining himself, bowed and left. Heading towards the stairs, he was already formulating inside his head what he was going to say to Itachi. He needed to talk to him about what was going on.

Before it was too late.

As he climbed up the stairs, he considered that Itachi was probably "busy" with Mai, but soon discarded that idea. Most certainly she was trying to seduce him into sex, and he was turning her off – as he had been doing a lot lately. Now that he put some thought into it, it was clear as water for Shisui that Itachi was, in fact, gay.

His heart started beating faster at the thought of his best friend being homosexual. He had never considered that it could be possible before.

When he reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hallway, he spotted Itachi's elegant figure, walking alone towards a room.

Sasuke's bedroom.

Shisui clenched his teeth, his rising fury burning in the apex of his throat.

"Itachi!" He called, just when the prodigy grabbed the doorknob of that _dirty_ room.

Itachi turned his head to Shisui, not presenting him a readable expression. He waited for his friend to approach him.

Shisui halted when he was standing just few inches away from his friend. He could vaguely smell the fresh cologne on Itachi.

"I need to talk to you." He uttered with a serious voice.

"Ok."

Impassive as ever, Itachi removed his hand from the doorknob and gazed at Shisui with his unsurprised expressionless face.

"We can talk in the study."

Itachi took the lead to the study room, located at the other end of the hallway.

Shisui walked behind him, and observed the natural elegance of Itachi's steps. The older cousin never ceased to be amazed by the way Itachi's perfectly-built masculine body seemed so light every time he walked. Even though younger by three years, Itachi was two inches taller than Shisui, and yet, his steps were lighter and discreet. Compared to Itachi's, Shisui's steps were terribly noisy and heavy. He almost felt _rude_ walking by his side.

Itachi's effect on him was always more powerful then he thought.

"Where's Mai?" Shisui broke their silence again.

"Headache. She's resting in my bedroom." He replied to him without looking back.

'_Headache?'_ Shisui frowned. Glaring at Itachi's back, he noticed that he was carrying an unfamiliar black rectangular case in his left hand, no bigger than a shaving case.

Something was off.

Why was Mai with a headache when she was perfectly fine minutes ago?

Even if she was with a headache, stubborn as she was, she would never let go of a chance to be with Itachi in his bedroom. She would do anything to prevent him from going to Sasuke's room. Not to mention that Mai loved having sex during parties behind everyone's back. Countless times Shisui had to listen to her talk and talk about her and Itachi's sexual adventures. Since Mai, for some odd reason liked to tell that _stuff_ to him – with _detail_. And Shisui never liked hearing that – but as a good friend, he always _listened._

Shisui even remembered when she tried to convince Itachi to have a quick fuck in Sasuke's room during the kid's birthday party, while he was receiving presents. She was pissed when Itachi said no. Now thinking about it, Sasuke's room was probably the only one that wasn't 'tried out' by those two…

Wait a minute…how long has Itachi been infatuated with his brother?

His thoughts were hastily cut when Itachi stopped before the study's door. Shisui waited for his best friend to open the door and turn on the lights before he stepped inside the cozy room. Now was not the time to think about Itachi's sinful relationship with that lascivious brat. He had something more important to tell him.

Itachi shut the door behind him.

"What do you want to talk about?" He asked lazily, while he walked towards the desk of fine ebony wood and placed on it the black case.

"Itachi…are you gay?" Shisui decided to go straight to the point. He was prepared for anything at that moment.

"Why do you ask?"

Much to Shisui's frustration, Itachi didn't seem the bit impressed with the question. Mai had most likely interrogated him before about that. That was probably why the prodigy was acting unaffectedly, opening his strange black case to show a selection of syringes, almost all of them with a colorless liquid inside. Only one of them was empty.

But Shisui needed to hear his answer.

"Please answer me. It's important. I'm your best friend, I have a right to know what's…what are your sexual preferences. I'm not judging you!"

Itachi raised his head to eye Shisui, for once not focusing his attention on the black case.

"Yes. I think I am."

Shisui's eyes widened before Itachi's bold statement. Meanwhile, Itachi returned his concentration to the black case to pick up one of the syringes, and removed the plastic cap that covered the needle.

Taking in a deep breath, Shisui uttered; "I have a confession to make."

It hadn't bothered the older cousin that his best friend was strangely preparing a syringe for God knows what. As he was too immersed in his task to confess everything to Itachi.

He needed to confess. He couldn't stand keeping his secrets locked in his heart anymore. And now that he knew for sure Itachi was gay…

"I love you."

That caught Itachi by surprise, who stopped tapping the barrel of the syringe to look his best friend in the eyes.

"I've been having these weird feelings for you for a while. I think it started when you began dating Mai…"

Shisui bowed his head when he felt his face getting warmed. Clenching his fists, he lifted his head again with determination, to continue his confession. There was no way he was letting that _dirty _brat get his Itachi.

That 'brotherly love' that Sasuke wanted to indulge in with his Itachi was just wrong and nasty. It could never be a healthy, loving relationship. They were brothers!

Shisui knew that, since those wet nights started, and a daily feverish ritual of masturbation fantasizing about Itachi's gorgeous naked body. His beautiful face looking at him tenderly, his tempting lips moaning his name; he just _knew_ that…

Itachi was his, because he _loved _him.

They were perfect for each other, and Shisui was not _dirty_.

"I considered not coming to this party…it's just so unbearable being so close to you and not be able to touch you."

Slowly, he walked forward until he was standing very close to his loved one.

Itachi remained still in his place, the syringe hanging in his right hand with the needle turned upwards.

"But next week I'm going to China to get my master's degree, and I'm not going to see you until New Year's Eve, so this kinda…a goodbye…"

Shisui's face leaned forward to Itachi's, breathing pleasantly the fresh cologne emanating from that perfect smooth skin…

Itachi's effect on him was really incredible. He was already with an erection just from _smelling _him.

He couldn't stop himself anymore.

He grabbed Itachi's face and kissed him fiercely, his thumbs dug into the younger's cheeks. He pushed his tongue successfully inside that arousing mouth.

He just lost control.

If it wasn't for Itachi forcing him to break the kiss, by pushing him away, Shisui would be trying to take his clothes off the next minute.

"Stop it, Shisui."

Itachi's cold words, void of any passion – while Shisui was burning in aching lust – hit him in his heart, harshly.

"I-I'm sorry, Itachi, I didn't mean to do this! It's just, I can't stand it anymore and…" His voice faded when he noticed his best friend was no longer looking at him.

Instead, Itachi's attention was focused on the floor, as if he was looking for something.

Shisui frowned in bewilderment.

"Are you…looking for something?"

"Yes."

Itachi lowered himself and in a squatting posture, started to scrutinize the underside of the wooden cabinet placed against the left wall of the study. Making sure, that transparent cylinder didn't roll under the piece of furniture.

"The syringe I was holding. You made me drop it when you kissed me." He explained bluntly.

Strangely, he didn't seem affected with the kiss, only with the object he dropped.

"Why were you with a syringe?"

"A medicine."

"Oh…"

Not wanting to be more impolite, Shisui squatted and helped Itachi looking for the object and didn't ask any more questions. He was more concentrated in finding a way to explain his attitude then finding out what kind of medicine Itachi was taking that needed a syringe of that size.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. Just help me look for that syringe."

Shisui sighed, and leaned his head to look under the heavy ebony desk. Surprisingly, he spotted the transparent plastic object behind the large leg of the desk.

"Found it!"

He picked it up and handed it to Itachi, who then straightened his body to collect the object. Shisui watched his cousin tapping the barrel of the syringe, to make the tip of the needle drip slightly. They were both on their knees, somewhat tired from that searching activity.

"You're taking medicine?" He asked, half-mesmerized by those long thin fingers movements, and involuntarily imagining how he wanted those fingers to be touching his-

"This is not for me." Itachi's melodic voice broke his thoughts. "It's for you."

Shisui's only reaction was widening his puzzled eyes while Itachi grabbed the nape of his neck and pulled him closer – his smell, the cologne, invaded Shisui's senses –the needle of the syringe now stuck into the flesh of his neck. He felt the strange liquid enter his system, the wonderful smell of Itachi's skin, the firm hold Itachi has on his neck, and his erection growing even more painfully in his pants.

All the while Itachi's gaze was fixed on him – their eyes were so close – and Shisui felt like he could be eternally hypnotized by that deep blackness.

There were too many things he was feeling, and he didn't care why Itachi was injecting him with a medicine because he never felt so beautifully close to his loved one in his entire life!

Finally, feeling his eyes heavy and his body's muscles strangely relaxing, Shisui asked in a murmur:

"Do you…love me?"

He heard Itachi letting out an almost inaudible sigh. He heard Itachi say:

"No."

His heart gave its last beat – a sad beat – before all of his body's energy faded and he fell loudly on the floor.

Dead.

Itachi stood up and walked to the edge of the desk, where his black case was, to put the empty syringe next to the other empty syringe. After he zipped the black case, he casted a look at Shisui's dead body, lifting up an eyebrow before the little detail that he hadn't notice.

He died with an erection.

He never thought that Shisui could be that infatuated with him. _Love_? Itachi touched his lips, remembering the fierce kiss that his cousin forced on him. They were still wet.

He felt nothing more than _wetness _with that kiss. He even opened his mouth to –who knows, maybe he could feel a bit of his love too– but he only felt wetness.

How could Shisui feel love when he felt nothing at all?

It was the same thing with Mai. Before Itachi injected the deadly dose of opium in her, she told him she loved him. It was just strange for him to understand how could those two, both adults and with a brain already developed to provide efficient rational thinking, could tell him so boldly that they loved him when their kisses felt like nothing.

Then again, Itachi never considered that kisses should make you feel something until he kissed Sasuke.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he loves him, but at least Sasuke's kisses felt like…

…Like what? Was there a word for feelings like these?

Not love, of course. Something between plain wetness and love? Maybe he should ask Sasuke – the kid once tried to memorize a dictionary just to impress Itachi, though he had probably forgotten half of the words by now.

(Now that Itachi was remembering it, he couldn't stop himself from smiling with the memories. Funny how a boy who curses more than anybody else does, actually knows many fancy words. It was really impressive back then, when ten-year-old Sasuke came to him with a dictionary and-)

Why was he thinking about that now? Shit, he had more important things to do than standing stupidly in the study thinking about past memories. Grunting, Itachi looked at his watch to check how much time he had left, noticing immediately that those generous minutes that Madara gave him were wasted with Mai, Shisui and his little spaced-out time comparing kisses and nostalgic silliness.

He left the study and crossed the hallway back to where Shisui intercepted him: at the entrance of Sasuke's room.

Itachi _could _use the little extra time to check for more possible failures in the plan, certifying that everything was going to be perfect, maybe eliminating more hindrances that can interfere with his plan…

But no.

He had to go check on his brother in his room.

(Not very professional)

The door was closed. After knocking and hearing no response, he opened it slowly, and was automatically given an angry reply.

"I'm not coming out!"

"Relax. It's me." Itachi spoke, smiling tenderly.

Sasuke flinched when he realized it wasn't his father, but his brother. He was sitting on his bed with bended legs against his chest and crossed arms on top of his knees. It was his sulking posture. He was already dressed with a white shirt and black pants, but his hair was disheveled. When he looked at Itachi, and those angry eyes turned into slightly bewildered ones, a blush forming on his cheeks…

Then he immediately turned away his face from him and put on his angry expression again.

Since that night when Itachi slipped into his room half drunk and caused all that misunderstanding with his father, Sasuke was not only avoiding him but also seemed to be angry at him. Itachi knew he should probably apologize to him for his behavior but what's the point? What's done is done. It was not that big of a deal, it's not like Itachi did _rape _him.

He was just a bit drunk.

Little Sasuke had always been too sensitive…

"I'm not marrying Hinata." Sasuke snorted, more to himself than to Itachi, who was still standing mute at the door.

It caught Itachi by surprise, in a way. Sasuke seemed to be more concerned with his destiny with the Hyuuga at the moment than with the incident that happened that night. Well, it was understandable; after all, that idiot (Fugaku) only told Sasuke that he was engaged after distributing the invitation cards to all the family.

(And deep inside, Itachi felt somewhat relieved that Sasuke was not that angry at him as he thought he was.)

"I don't care what father says, he can't force me. A honeymoon in North Korea? Who the hell goes for a honeymoon in North Korea?" He continued, his voice unable to hide his frustration.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow.

"He didn't say where you're going to stay in North Korea?"

Sasuke frowned.

"No…why? There is more that I don't know?"

So Fugaku didn't have the guts to tell Sasuke he was going to Orochimaru's residence.

How typical.

"No, don't worry about it." Itachi smiled. "Don't leave the room, ok?"

He closed the door, and headed downstairs. Everything will be over soon.

He eyed his watch again; it was time.

Madara probably was going to be upset with him for not killing Sasuke. After all that time they spent together playing chess, did that man still not know him?

Sasuke was his property. You do not ravish and destroy your own property _just because._

No. You keep it, try to maintain it in good condition, use it properly, and probably put on a sign to keep other interested parties out of the way.

Itachi refused to say goodbye to his beautiful property.

.

.

* * *

(1) The Portuguese were the first western people to land in Japan, in the XVI century, and Francis Xavier was the Portuguese Jesuit missionary responsible for spreading in the land of the rising sun the Bible teachings.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: An ant may well destroy an entire dam

.

.

_It was hot._

_Everything was burning. _

_The walls, the door, the desk, the painting near the window; furious flames were swallowing everything in a horrible quickness. _

_Everything was being taken away in front of him._

_The air was thick and grey, too heavy to breath, yet too light to fully suffocate him. It slowly tortured his lungs._

_He couldn't stop coughing._

_Something fell, right next to him – he was sure he heard a loud bang. He tried to see what it was in the midst of the dense smoke and burning light, but he couldn't see anything._

_He couldn't see anything._

_He couldn't see the flames anymore, the smoke was covering everything. Grey was covering everything. Grey, grey, grey, everything was fucking grey!_

_Where was the door? Where the fuck was the door?_

_His eyes burned, the smoke was brutally raping his corneas. He shut his eyes tight and opened his mouth to scream, but he chocked on the smoke before he could pronounce any sound. _

_Maybe everybody succeeded in escaping, and his family was outside waiting for him. He needed to get out of there, to go outside too. He kept crawling blindly, knowing that there was a window near, while avoiding going where the burning light was. _

_He knew he had reached the wall when his projected arm met painfully with the thick plaster, which abruptly stopped his blind crawling. Immediately, he started looking for the window with his hands, feeling the slight coldness of the lime-based material while walking slowly along the wall to find the rectangular exit from hell._

_Finally, he found the window, and tried to open it right away._

_It was locked._

_Shit, shit, shit, why was it fucking locked?_

_He should have stayed in his room. If he was in his room, he would have escaped through the window, because he never locks the fucking window. _

Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump…

_His heart was racing madly like it wanted to rip from his chest. A mix of frustration and fear began twirling inside his body, making his stomach register a violent lurch and his head suddenly dizzy. He wanted to vomit, even though he hadn't eaten anything for hours._

_The smoke was too thick; it was like every time he opened his mouth the ashes dried his throat and made him cough again._

_It was killing him slowly._

_He felt the burning light approaching him. The consuming flames were making their way to reach him and he had nowhere to escape! He was so scared that he would probably die from the fear then from the fire._

_Die? Wait…_

_This was it?_

_His last hour had finally been reached? So soon?_

_Maybe…_

Ba-dump, ba-dump, **ba-dump**…

_He didn't know that the silence of Death could be so noisy._

"…_suke!..."_

_Someone was calling him._

_Someone was calling him._

_Was it?_

_He tried to open his eyes but the raping smoke forced them to shut again._

_He tried to crawl in the direction of the sound, slowly. His hand hit something sharp, making him jolt with the sudden pain. He gripped his hand to soothe the pain away and the strange moistening got him to notice that it was bleeding._

_He tried to concentrate on his hearing, muffling the noisy background of the fire. He couldn't hear anything. Wasn't…it _was _someone calling him, right?_

"…_Sasuke!..."_

_Someone was definitely calling. He didn't care about the pained hand nor the drowning lungs and the burning eyes; he tried to desperately crawl in the direction of the sound. _

"…_Sasuke!"_

_Yes! It was near, the owner of the voice! He was safe, he was almost there, almost-_

_Something fell over him. _

_Something hard fell over his leg, and he couldn't move. _

_He tried to pull his body away from the blocking weight but failed. The pain of his leg was growing, intensifying, it made him forget about the ache of his hand. _

_It was becoming unbearable. _

_It probably was smashed. _

_Every time he tried to pull, his broken leg responded with a crying twinge._

Ba-dump, ba-dump!

_He couldn't breath anymore. His couldn't open his eyes anymore. He couldn't pull his leg out. He couldn't reach that voice. _

_He couldn't…_

Ba-dump…

_In the mist of the darkness and the noisy background, he felt the weight on his leg being removed. He felt his body being lifted. He felt like he was being carried away. Soon after, while he was still in a semi-conscious state, he felt sudden fresh air brushing against his face with an unnatural violence._

_Was he flying? _

_No, it probably was an angel who picked him up. He didn't have any wings. Angels have wings, and they can fly._

_Yes, that would make sense._

* * *

"…_Sasuke!..."_

He opened his eyes slowly, waking up from the darkness. Blinking, he tried to customize his sensitive corneas to the clean brightness of the outside.

"Sasuke!"

Someone was calling him. Someone whose head was above him, looking down on him.

He tried harder to focus, to identify the person whose blue eyes seemed so troubled. He had blond hair, and three lines on each cheek, resembling stylized whiskers. Sasuke knew they were scars from an accident, long time ago.

What was his name again?

"Sasuke! You're awake!" The blond smiled widely at him, and he didn't understand why.

"What? He's awake?" He heard a feminine voice before a pink head appeared in his field of view.

Slowly their faces became clear as he got used to the terrible brightness. There were no sign of flames or heavy smoke burning his eyes. Everything was light and shiny and there was an intense smell of antiseptics in the air.

"Sasuke! It's us, remember us?" The blonde boy grinned, though his blue eyes still looked troubled.

"…Naruto? You're noisy." He mumbled.

"I told you to stop calling for him so many times!" Sakura snorted and gave light punch on Naruto's shoulder.

"…_Sasuke!..."_

"Were you the one calling me?" He asked, still mumbling. His throat was too dry to talk louder.

Naruto widened his worried blue eyes.

"Yeah! You were moving but you weren't waking up, so I kept calling for you! Sorry if I was noisy…" He scratched the back of his head, like he did every time he felt he did something wrong.

Sasuke sighed. Somehow, it didn't seem it was Naruto's voice calling for him in his dream.

Wait, dream? If that was the case, then what where Naruto and Sakura doing there?

Where was he?

He glanced around, trying to recognize the background of the room he was in. The ceiling was white, the walls were grayish, and he was definitely in a bed with cotton white sheets and a very hard mattress.

"Where am I?"

If Naruto's blue eyes looked worried before, now they looked disturbed. It was Sakura who replied to him:

"You're in a hospital, Sasuke-kun. You were in coma for four days."

She bit her lip and said nothing more. Her frowning expression told him that she was worried about something too. However, she didn't talk – and she usually talks a lot.

Even Naruto was awfully quiet.

"Coma?" He was still assimilating her words, trying to process them in his slightly numbed mind. "Why? What happened?"

They didn't respond to him, like they were afraid of something.

Why was he in coma and in a hospital? Wasn't it a dream?

Then he looked at the end of the bed, and noticed his leg, all bandaged and plastered, supported in the air by a thick strip secured by a high metal frame. Immediately he lifted his arm, removing it from the sheets, only to see his hand also bandaged.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?" He wasn't asking them, he already knew it wasn't. He was just voicing the confirmation of the shocking reality that half of him was still refusing to believe.

Naruto gulped; his blue eyes were about to shatter with the weight of the tears he was holding. Sakura was biting her lip so hard that a faint drop of blood emerged and threatened to trail down her inferior lip.

"I'm glad to see that you have awakened, Sasuke-kun." A female doctor with shorten black hair and a lithe figure interrupted the frozen environment they were in. She crossed the room to where Sasuke was, and once she reached his bed she introduced herself with a tender smile: "I'm Shizune. How are you feeling?"

He didn't bother to reply to her question and started to shoot his own doubts. "What happened? Where's Itachi? Where's mother?"

He looked at his friends' faces – deadly silent expressions – and then at the doctor.

She too had worry written in her eyes. He didn't like what was going on already, whatever it was.

"Visiting hour is over."

Both Naruto and Sakura nodded to Shizune and walked towards the door. Sakura murmured a goodbye to him before she stepped out of the door; Naruto looked too disturbed to pronounce a word. Weird, he was grinning like an idiot a minute ago.

"Your brother is fine." The doctor spoke again, smiling again. She grabbed her medical penlight and started examining his eyes. "He's a hero, you know? He saved you from the fire, and even broke three ribs during the fall."

"The fall?"

"He jumped from the second floor of your house with your unconscious body and landed on his back so you wouldn't get hurt. If it wasn't for the shrubs, he could have paralyzed himself." Shizune lifted Sasuke's baggy hospital shirt and placed the cold stethoscope's cold on his warm chest, making him wince slightly. "Take a deep breath, dear."

He obeyed her and filled his lungs with air. She didn't take long to conclude that he was fine and put the stethoscope away. All the smoke that had filled his lungs and put him into coma has finally left his body.

"And my mother?"

Shizune's smile faded, and her forehead frowned in concern.

"My father…?" He kept asking, but deep inside, he already knew the answer.

"I'm so sorry, dear…"

"They didn't make it." He mumbled, more to himself then to her.

She patted his head, stroking his bangs away from his forehead, and didn't say anything.

Outside were police officers patiently waiting to enter inside the lonely room and ask Sasuke some routine questions about the fire, even though Sasuke's memory was still numbed. The police didn't have many leads (they didn't even have a prime suspect) as to who caused that tremendous mass murder. They could easily guess _why_, someone wanted to wipe out the Uchihas from the stock market competition. There were several companies that would gain a lot with the Uchiha Company out of the way.

There couldn't be any other explanation.

Fact is, whatever the reasons were, the one(s) who did this couldn't possibly be 'normal'.

It was _inhumane_.

A few homemade bombs were strategically planted inside the house, in a way that by the time they exploded the fire could spread evenly through all the area of the first floor. They didn't know how Fugaku's most trustful bodyguards didn't notice anything off, or why the security system registered a fatal malfunction by locking every door automatically as soon as the fire started, keeping everyone inside the house. Investigators suspected that the bodyguards were most likely involved in the plan, since they, not only had access inside the house, they also had criminal records. In the end, they were betrayed and died along with the Uchiha family.

Strangely the only door that wasn't locked was the backyard door that led to the kitchen, where the servants were. Police have yet to conclude if that was just part of the malfunction of the security system, or it was part of the meticulous plan premeditated by whoever wanted the Uchihas – and only the Uchihas – dead.

What a horrendous scenery that greeted the police when they arrived at the crime scene! Black, carbonized bodies, burnt beyond recognition – most of them had their jaws extremely opened, as if they were still screaming out in pain. Some were 'lucky' to be near one of the bombs and had instant death (which only made it even more difficult for pathologists to identify the body). Fugaku's bodyguards and two young members of the family were found in a peaceful position, leading forensics to conclude they were probably 'silenced' with a strong sedative before the fire started, even though it would be impossible to find traces of drug with the bodies in that condition.

The fire consumed rapidly the first floor and the basement, though it took the second floor in a much slower pace. Another odd thing was that the forensic team found traces of a ethylene glycol-based solution in a bucket in the backyard. The author of the crime obviously knew about the odorless and inflammable properties of said petrochemical. Mixed within the detergent, the servants unknowingly spread the inflammable chemical evenly throughout the first floor when they scrubbed it. It was like having gasoline on the floor: everybody got caught by the furious flames almost at the same time when the bombs exploded.

Every Uchiha's life was then tragically sentenced, except Fugaku's sons. They were both on the second floor, which luckily hadn't been cleaned with that fatal detergent, so the flames arrived there late and spread at a slower pace. The older soon realized he had to escape through the window – God bless his geniality – and luckily, the boy's bedroom window was open. Nevertheless it was amazing how the elder had time to grab his unconscious brother and jump a forty feet fall.

The fact that neither of the brothers got seriously injured from the fall, was no less a miracle.

* * *

_An ant may well destroy an entire dam._

That was Madara's favorite Chinese saying. He had it engraved on a wooden tablet hanging high on the wall of his office, proudly exhibiting the sentence that resembled his life story. It could barely be read by normal visitors, since Madara liked to keep the illumination low when it wasn't needed.

He had always worked better in darker places.

Itachi touched his bruised cheek, the delicate skin still burning after Madara's punch (actually, it felt like a slap, but Itachi refrained himself from commenting that the old man hit like a girl).

"I said that I wanted all of them dead." Unlike his slaps, Madara did know how to use a terrifying tone of voice in a quite impressive way. "Why isn't Sasuke dead?"

Sighing, Itachi looked around (Madara wasn't really expecting an answer for that, was he?) and gazed at the various presences in the room. They were almost all Madara's subordinates, assisting to his 'humiliation'. Or at least it was what Madara initially intended, but most of them were more preoccupied with other things.

Sitting on a velvet sofa, there was Kakuzu, counting the money from his last job. He had just sold a family, a father and three sons to the Russian mafia, who were hidden by the Witness Protection Program. It was the first sell he had done with living people.

Next to him was Sasori, polishing himself. Itachi only met him the previous day and immediately found him an intriguing creature: his whole skin was completely synthetic. It never regenerated, and never aged. He used to be a renowned plastic surgeon until he turned himself to the embalming industry and started making experiments on himself. Now he looked physically younger than Itachi even though he was almost Madara's age.

Behind the sofa was Zetsu, the real life Hannibal Lecter. Kisame already knew him for while, and once told Itachi that he tried to feed him animal meat and the guy vomited. His stomach was only prepared to digest human meat.

Pein and Konan where actually paying attention to Madara and what was going on in the room, but they always did so. Pein seemed to be strangely devoted to Madara and his revolutionary ideas, and Konan was basically Pein's bitch. At least that was what Itachi figured out about their strange relationship, though he didn't think that Konan would agree with him if he voiced his thoughts.

Kisame was in fact the one who seemed to be a bit shocked when Madara punched (slapped) him. His friend only got into Akatsuki (Madara's fantastic organization) because Itachi advised the old man to recruit him. The shark-looking guy had lost his latest job – some criminal's bodyguard – because he accidentally killed his own client. Itachi told Madara that Kisame was a good guy to send into brutal killings where you didn't have to use much thinking.

Nevertheless, Madara wasn't fully satisfied and still wanted to recruit two more guys for his little circus: some religion fanatic freak that lived in an unorthodox monastery, and a pyromaniac that also happened to be a self-proclaimed artist. Itachi knew that he was on the raffle to be the recruiter and he hoped at least he wouldn't be sent to recruit the artist. He hated contemporary artists.

"Are you planning on keeping the brat?"

That didn't look like a question.

"Does it bother you?"

Itachi heard Kisame gasp. Pein lifted an eyebrow and Kakuzu stopped counting the money to eye the pair. Madara's glare intensified after Itachi's bold reply but he didn't move from his spot. After two minutes of dreadful silence – minutes that seemed like hours – Madara uttered with an imperative tone:

"Get out, all of you. I want to have a talk alone with Itachi."

One by one, the Akatsuki members left the room, leaving the two Uchihas behind, still performing a glaring contest. Once the door closed, Madara grabbed Itachi by his neck and pushed him against the wall. The young adult hadn't even winced with the pain coming from his bandaged torso, when his broken ribs hit an inconvenient wall protuberance.

"What are you trying to do, _Itachi-san_?" Madara almost spitted when he pronounced his name, adding the honorific sarcastically.

His face was close to his, Itachi could smell his breath of Cuban cigars. He had a hand dangerously around Itachi's pale neck, and the other slammed against the wall, right next to his head.

"Are you trying to keep him as your fuck toy? Is that it?"

"It's none of your business." Itachi's voice remained calm, his face remained stoic. He stated the words firmly and audibly, even though his throat was being pressed by Madara's strong grip.

"I'm afraid it is, Itachi."

Madara approached his face, placing his mouth incredibly closer to his. He began talking in a lower tone:

"I don't want your brother's pretty ass getting in the middle of my affairs. Let me warn you this, my dear relative," his hips brushed against Itachi's erotically. The younger felt the other's already formed erection being pressed against his groin. Madara licked Itachi's superior lip before he finished the sentence: "if your brother gets in the way, I will not hesitate in killing him."

His tongue teased the younger's lips for entrance, slowly Itachi complied, and let him travel inside his mouth.

He let Madara dominate the kiss. The elder's tongue went wild inside his wet cavern, eagerly tasting every bit of his humid flesh, while he kept pressing his body against Itachi's, making sure that the younger felt his hard arousal.

Neither of them closed their eyes during the kiss.

He let Madara finish the kiss, licking the dripping saliva off his lips and his chin.

Finally, Itachi uttered: "Sasuke is my responsibility. His _pretty ass_ will not get in your way."

Madara smirked.

"I'm more concerned with you, Itachi."

His hand trailed down Itachi's chest, slowly, and started to unbutton the black shirt that covered the appealing young body in front of him.

"Don't get too attached to the kid."

He finished unbuttoning the shirt, revealing the breathtaking pale torso of the young Uchiha, half of it unfortunately hidden by the hospital bandages. After taking a good look at what he was about to get, Madara approached Itachi's ear and whispered: "Brothers are all the same. They don't appreciate our love."

"_Love?"_ Itachi added a mockery tone to the word. "Is that a deadly feeling in your vocabulary?"

Madara chuckled, and between soft kisses in Itachi's jaw, he uttered: "Just don't elude yourself."

The older took over the younger's mouth in another intense kiss, but this time, Itachi fought for dominance. He grabbed the nape of the elder's neck, sinking is long fingers in the wild black hair, and pulled him harder against him, deepening the kiss in such a powerful way, it took the elder of the two by surprise.

Itachi broke the kiss abruptly, leaving a bewildered Madara with his mouth half open and a faint trail of saliva in the air.

"_You_ shouldn't elude yourself."

In a rapid movement, Itachi freed himself from Madara's grip and made him turn himself, to pin him against the desk (conveniently standing nearby) with his back facing him. Madara landed with his elbows on the paper piles spread over the desk, feeling Itachi's erection being pressed against his ass.

Approaching the elder's ear, Itachi whispered with a provocative smirk:

"I like being on top."

.

.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Outside noisy, inside empty

.

.

The sound the moving fan blades made was strangely hypnotic. It was soothing but repetitive, _stressing,_ almost paranoiac. It was better than the mortifying silence in the white room.

Sasuke gazed at the papers he was holding in his hands, rubber-stamped by the Tokyo Family Court. It was the official document that designated Itachi as Sasuke's guardian until he was legally an adult.

Unbelievably, Itachi convinced the judge to declare him an emancipated minor (1) and recognize he was able to take care of Sasuke. Before, their lawyer had screamed that it was insane trying to ask something like that from the judge, and kept telling him that Sasuke had to go to an orphanage or to a foster family, but Itachi hadn't listened to him. While still trying to cope with the tragedy, fighting the dizziness of sweet nostalgia versus cruel reality, Sasuke remembered his brother saying to the lawyer that they were not going to be separated.

Itachi did it.

He convinced the judge.

Sasuke did not know if he was able to deal with things, if his brother wasn't near him.

He placed the papers on the bedside table and covered himself with the blankets before he turned the light off. He didn't turn off the fan.

He liked the sound.

Somehow, it calmed him down whenever he thought about what happened.

Which was almost all the time.

He _was_ getting used to the notion that everything was gone.

That they were all gone.

That no matter how feverishly he silently wished, he wouldn't wake up the next morning and see that it was all a dream. That his mother was there smiling at him, his father was still grumpy but healthy and alive, and the house where he was born and raised…

…didn't burn to ashes.

It was like a part of him, his life story, was just wiped out from reality. The psychotherapist from the hospital said that the police was going to catch the bad guys, but that didn't matter.

They're gone, and no one could bring them back.

Now here he was, in a new place, their new "home" –but he knew, that it would never be his _real_ home –a foreign bedroom with white walls, white curtains and a big white closet, full of clothes that weren't even his. Like he had just entered inside a new life forcefully.

He hated the bedroom.

But he didn't want to step outside.

It was _harder _to step outside the white room.

He didn't want to get familiar with the house. Getting familiar with a bedroom that wasn't _his_ was enough.

If he accepted the new things, it meant he would have to embrace his new reality.

Which was too horrible, he preferred to pretend.

So he spent his days inside the white room, and replayed inside his head the last memories he had with his parents, while he let himself be mesmerized by the fan blades circular movements.

God, he missed his mother.

He missed her so much…

_(The vortex of the spinning fan blades soothed his memories, cut his nostalgia, hypnotized his subconscious mind, making him forget ,_not_ to think about-)_

Then there was Itachi.

Again, it all comes down to _Itachi._

The beloved brother who was acting so weird, back in… their house.

Sasuke hadn't forgotten the bathroom episode. It still lingered inside his mind; it _still _disturbed him in his sleep with unusual nightmares.

Yes, nightmares. Because it caused him…it caused him…

(…)

_Morning_ _wood._

His family was dead, his house burned to ashes, and he didn't know why _the fuck_ he was still getting morning wood about dreams involving Itachi and a bathroom.

How_ embarrassing._

That's why it was better to stay inside the white room. How could he face Itachi with dignity if he was having those shameless erections? What the fuck was wrong with his body?

Sasuke knew he shouldn't be acting like that. At best, he should be helping Itachi around the house instead of being so concerned with his little problem, but no, he just let his brother take care of everything. However, it's Itachi's fault for not hiring any servants. Itachi was the main heir of the family, they had the money!

But no, Itachi said that they didn't need any servants, that he could take care of things.

He could: he did all the house chores, he cooked the meals, he'd always made sure Sasuke didn't need anything...

He always accompanied him back to the hospital for routine checks, and waited while Sasuke convinced the uncaring hospital's psychotherapist that he was dealing with the lost wonderfully.

Itachi was always taking care of everything and Sasuke didn't do anything. He was even barely able to _look_ at his brother.

Because he was a fucking _pussy._ He couldn't even leave the fucking room.

He couldn't help it.

Sasuke wasn't ready to face Itachi yet. At least not while he was having those shameless morning woods.

* * *

He was almost falling asleep when he felt someone's breathing against the back of his neck.

Sasuke was already expecting him. His brother had developed the strange habit of sneaking inside his bedroom to watch him sleep.

Itachi probably thought that Sasuke was sleeping, but Sasuke wasn't.

Sasuke also never opened his eyes.

(Pretending not to notice was so much easier.)

He would never hear his brother enter his room, but he felt his presence.

Almost every night, before he fell asleep.

It began two or three weeks after Sasuke left the hospital. He vaguely remembered the first night he felt someone kneeled beside his bed, someone's face approaching his bared shoulders…

Few minutes after Sasuke recognized his presence, his hot breath against his skin, he would fall asleep tranquilly, to wake up the next morning and see himself alone in the white room, again.

Sasuke didn't know why Itachi was doing it. His brother didn't even touch him…he only felt Itachi near him.

It was kinda comforting…

But he refused to open his eyes. He didn't know how Itachi would react if he opened his eyes suddenly and 'caught' him there. How awkward it would be. Itachi probably would be embarrassed and leave.

Right?

Sasuke didn't want him to leave.

He…liked falling asleep with Itachi there.

That's why pretending not to notice was so much better.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura dropped by Monday. Sasuke refused to see them. He wasn't ready to be a man yet.

Staying inside the bedroom gave him a false sense of comfort: only him, the spinning fan, the memories, and his 'night visitor' to watch him fall asleep.

_(To protect him.)_

It was his new little world that he was getting customized to and he liked it.

Walking outside the secured area – the bedroom – or letting outsiders inside – Naruto, Sakura – implied some guts. It meant: accepting _reality_. Sasuke needed to mentally prepare himself.

But he wasn't ready yet.

Naruto and Sakura came back Tuesday. Sasuke refused to see them, again.

Not yet.

Thursday Naruto came alone. Itachi came to the bedroom to ask if he wanted to see his friend, and Sasuke finally agreed. He believed he was ready.

So Naruto entered inside the 'secured area', and sat there in the foreign chair with an awkward expression. Sasuke kept sitting in the foreign bed.

The furniture in his room was still foreign.

Naruto had come to deliver him homework (apparently, second semester had already began) and tried to distract him with his new jokes and Kiba's bloopers, but Sasuke kept his stoic expression.

Inwardly, he was trying hard not to cry in front of the _dobe_. It would be really _really _embarrassing.

"…But you should come next week. It would be good for you; besides, everyone is missing you already." Naruto said.

"Hm." Sasuke replied.

"And you don't want your grades to fall, ne? I mean, that wouldn't be what your parents want?"

"…"

"Ok, I'm sorry for bringing it up! But seriously, it's bad for you to keep locked up in here all the time. I tell you what, I won't leave your bedroom until you promise me you will go to school."

"It's not my bedroom. And why do you care, you're the one who's always skipping school." Even if it was in a grunt form, Sasuke managed to say two sentences and that made Naruto grin widely like an idiot.

"Yeah, but if you go, I won't skip!"

"What a tempting deal."

"You know Sasuke, I used to hate your sarcasm but now…" The blond slowly opened his arms, still grinning like an idiot, he exclaimed: "…I love it!"

Naruto jumped from the chair and landed over the raven, squeezing him with a big hug, completely catching the other boy by surprise.

"You're coming back! My friend is coming back!" He kept shouting.

"Get off me you moron!"

Sasuke was able to shove Naruto away from him, but he couldn't hide his smirk, and Naruto saw it. The bliss the blonde boy felt, had him throwing his jacket in the air – one of the boy's unexplainable actions – but he didn't measure the force because the jacket got stuck in the fan, making it stop almost abruptly.

"Oh shit! I'm already damaging your new bedroom!"

Sasuke couldn't help it: he laughed. Naruto's shocked expression was just too funny to ignore.

The _dobe _saw him and laughed too. So there they were, laughing like idiots until Itachi came in asking if everything was alright. Sasuke immediately recomposed himself, and stopped laughing, and bluntly said to Naruto that it was time for him to leave.

(But he still had to promise Naruto he would go to school next week or the stupid idiot wouldn't leave.)

Yeah, well…Naruto always managed to reach him. He was glad that the _dobe_ wasn't angry at him anymore.

Really glad.

* * *

"Dinner is ready."

Sasuke had been staring at the spinning fan on the ceiling when Itachi opened the door to his room. He had been doing that a lot since he left the hospital.

The younger Uchiha eyed his older brother with dull eyes and nodded. Itachi took a glance at the room, and noticed how empty it still looked. Sasuke hadn't yet touched the things – the Playstation, the games, the books – that Itachi had bought for him, to compensate what he lost in the fire. Half of the clothes were still inside the paper bags.

Itachi sighed, left the door opened, and headed to the living room. He had already set the table, the pan placed in the center with the dinner boiling inside.

Sasuke showed up in about five minutes after Itachi had sat down.

They both ate in silence; the clicking of the chopsticks on the pottery was the only music that filled the room. Outside, the uproar caused by the reporters had ceased during the past few weeks, which provided the much needed peace for the Uchiha survivors. Itachi had already expected that the journalists would lose their interest on their tragedy, after the latest mysterious death cases that had been assaulting several Japanese enterprises' actionists. Consequently stirring the stock exchange's numbers (authorship of the Akastuki, though the police and the journalists would never find out).

It was when Sasuke finished eating that he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"I think I'm going to school tomorrow."

Itachi was taken by surprise, as he did not expect anything else than the silent treatment Sasuke had been giving him since the…'tragedy'.

"May I ask you why the reason of your sudden decision of leaving the room?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"No reason. Naruto told me Iruka is already giving a lot of homework and I don't want my grades to fall."

"Naruto, huh?" Itachi narrowed his eyes.

Sasuke didn't reply to him, nor had he noticed the pinch of venom that tempered his brother's voice upon the mention of his friend's name. He stood up from the table, grabbed his plate to put it in the dishwasher and walked back to his room, closing the door tightly.

* * *

Itachi didn't think much of what happened. He had too many things to take care of after the fire, so his mind was always preoccupied with something else.

Just his father's will alone had taken a lot of his time – as expected; Fugaku had already made a will in which Itachi was the main heir of the family. Sasuke got 10% of the entire wealth, and that was the nice way Fugaku chose to avoid disinheriting him. Though Itachi would only gain access to the money when he turns 20.

Then there was the searching for an apartment to live in, shopping for furniture. House supplies and of course, clothes for both of them, before Sasuke left the hospital. He knew exactly Sasuke's clothing size and the few colors the he wore.

(Though he didn't buy him baggy underwear; the boy would be wearing tight boxers now.)

Canceling Sasuke's wedding turned out to be a quick and easy task, surprisingly; the Hyuuga didn't make any objections. Fortunately, he wasn't that interested in marrying his daughter.

His affairs with Akatsuki consumed a lot of his time as well. Madara just didn't like to give him free time. During the whole August month he had spent more time with his friend/partner in crime Kisame, than with the one he would prefer to be around. Only when September came was he able to enjoy a little bit of free time.

Unfortunately, Itachi soon noticed that it didn't make a difference whether he spent his free time in his new home or in the Akatsuki's edifice. Sasuke insisted in spending the whole time inside his bedroom. The boy only left his room during meal times, or to go the bathroom.

He completely ignored Itachi's presence. He did it on purpose, and Itachi didn't know why.

He also didn't know why Sasuke acted so differently around that Uzumaki kid.

Actually, the only time they spent some 'time' together after Sasuke left the hospital, was when Itachi accompanied him back to the hospital to remove the plaster off his leg. Even though, it was a subway trip of almost absolute silence.

Sasuke didn't even look at Itachi during the entire time.

He acted as if he wasn't there.

Inwardly, that _infuriated _Itachi.

He had the feeling that if he was the stupid blonde friend, Sasuke wouldn't be acting like that.

_Well…_

Maybe Sasuke didn't like to take the subway. They had a limo back at their house, maybe the kid wasn't used to public transportation. Maybe Itachi should try to get a driver's license, after all he was declared emancipated. He should have the rights of an adult…and with a car, he could drive Sasuke to the hospital.

Maybe that way Sasuke could talk to him.

_Maybe._

Shockingly, Itachi didn't know what to do.

He had no _clue._

He finally got rid of his family; he finally got Sasuke all to himself…but could he make use of his own property if the access was always denied to him?

Sasuke spent days and days inside that bedroom. The psychotherapist said it was normal, and that he would come out eventually when he finally coped with his parents' deaths.

Yet Itachi feared he might get impatient with the waiting. He was starting to lose control, _again_.

He didn't wait for Sasuke to fall asleep anymore, he just slipped inside his room just so he could _breathe_ his skin's scent, like a fucking addict. It took all of his self control not to touch him, not to _rape him_, right there.

When he couldn't stand the pain of his erection anymore, he would quickly leave the room to relieve himself in the bathroom, carrying in his nostrils the wonderful scent of Sasuke's skin.

It was almost suffocating, that uncontrollable habit of his. Itachi didn't know how long he could stand without _doing anything_.

Without touching him.

Without…

He needed to feel Sasuke.

He needed Sasuke to step out of his bedroom. He needed him to smile, to remember that he's still the little brother that he wanted to possess, to pleasure, to make him come…

He needed Sasuke to stop acting like a lifeless doll. He didn't want to fuck a doll. Dolls can't feel pleasure.

_(He didn't want to rape a doll.)_

He needed _something _from Sasuke, and he didn't know what to do.

Because if Sasuke doesn't do anything…

If it happens…

(…Because Itachi knew, sooner or later, he would loose control.)

* * *

The hall of the Akatsuki Enterprises' forty-floor building was in fact quite exquisite – red marble with beautiful black swirling veins, decorated the enormous ground floor. Elegant columns, imitating the antique Greek Ionic style, placed here and there, beheld more of a decorative function than a structural finality, but it combined marvelously with the white stucco that ornamented the walls. Even though it was Sasori who offered to decorate the hall, it was certainly Madara who picked the style, seeing how European the scenery looked.

Itachi stepped inside the only elevator that permitted him to go to any floor he wanted to – for the Akatsuki's official members usage only – and pushed the button to the penthouse, letting the elevator's security system read his authorized fingertip.

Powered by ultimate Japanese technology, it didn't take long for the elevator to stop at the penthouse floor. The doors opened to reveal a wide and somewhat dark space – as always, the _bordeaux_-colored curtains were shutting out almost all the sunlight that would illuminate the apartment.

Madara was waiting for him.

He sat on a black leather sofa, drinking a glass of red wine. Pein and Konan were across the room, looking at some papers, and Itachi wondered how they were able to read anything under such a low light. Now as he thought about it, those two had been hanging around Madara's penthouse a lot lately…

Itachi sat in front of Madara, on another identical black leather sofa. There was a glass of red wine for him on the little wooden table on his right. He grabbed it and took a gulp.

He had never tasted that wine before. Strangely, it was not one of Madara's usual Burgundy wines.

Madara smirked.

"You like it?"

"Yes. What is it?"

"It's Italian. Made from the Nebbiolo grape."

"Piedmont?"

Madara's smirk widened.

"Yes. Your vast knowledge has always fascinated me."

He rested his right arm on the sofa and crossed his legs.

"Do you know who offered me this wine, Itachi?"

Itachi looked at him, blankly. The other chuckled, obviously amused with what he was about to tell the prodigy.

"Orochimaru."

Itachi glared at him, and put his glass back on the table. Madara let out another chuckle, though this time it seemed he was trying to hold a malefic laugh.

"I'm pretty sure I had told that man that I prefer French wines, but you know how Orochimaru is."

His fingers were caressing the glass of wine while he talked, his eyes diverted teasingly from the glass to Itachi.

"Do you know what he wants?"

Itachi didn't reply to him, but he could guess what that mischievous faggot wanted.

"You know how he's been hindering my affairs with the Suna Company. I really don't know how he managed to befriend the leader…anyway, he promised to step out of my way, and even _intercede _in my favor by talking to the leader. If, of course, I give him what he wants."

He drank the rest of the wine, calmly, while Itachi waited in silence for Madara to say what he didn't want to hear.

"Judging by your face, I think you know what I'm talking about."

Itachi glared harder at the older Uchiha.

"If my face is so expressive, then you should also know that I will not give Sasuke to Orochimaru."

Madara undid his taunting smirk.

"And here I thought it was good deal…we would only benefit from it."

"_We_?"

"Yes. I would get rid of Orochimaru and you would get rid of your sexual frustration."

In a rapid movement, Madara was standing in front of Itachi, his figure towering the younger Uchiha that remained seated. Madara placed his arms on each side of him, trapping Itachi against the sofa. With his right knee, he parted Itachi's legs and brushed seductively against his thigh.

Itachi flinched slightly when he felt Madara's knee brushed slowly against his crotch, trying to stimulate it. He glanced to his right to see if that weird couple was still in the room – and he was surprised to see Pein sitting quietly in a chair, eyeing them with an odd interest. Konan was still looking at some papers, completely ignoring the sensual activity that was happening in Madara's penthouse.

"Haven't you fucked your brother yet, Itachi?" Madara whispered in his ear.

Itachi felt the elder's hand slide from the sofa and touch the curve of his neck.

Madara had been acting more and more seductive whenever Itachi went to his penthouse. Fact is, Itachi didn't have much patience for his flirtatious ways anymore since the one he really wanted to screw was at his disposal, alone in their new apartment. Wearing one of those tight boxers that Itachi had bought for him…

Sadly, that 'one' insisted on being locked inside his bedroom. So it would be an understatement to say that Itachi was a bit frustrated with life.

He was _very_ frustrated. Yet, he still kept rushing back home at the end of the day, whenever he finished his affairs with Akatsuki, hoping for…he didn't even know what he was hoping for.

"If Sasuke is leading you to abstinence…don't you think you would be better off without him? Look…you're already _hard_. "

He felt the other's knee applying more friction against his erection, though he remained still and silent. Madara removed his knee and placed it on the sofa, beside Itachi's leg, to support his leaning body. His hands traced down Itachi's torso to his belt, and grabbed it teasingly. All the while Itachi knew Pein was still sitting only fifteen feet away from their sofa, watching their actions with those grey scrutinizing eyes.

Itachi's body stiffened when his accurate hearing caught the sound of Pein adjusting himself in his chair to get a better position.

"What's wrong? Feeling shy?" Madara had unbelted his pants without him even noticing.

"What's with your voyeur over there?" Itachi snorted.

Madara took a quick glance at Pein and shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe he likes you. He's Korean, I myself don't understand him very well."

He pulled Itachi's shirt up, to reveal the perfect pectorals and defined abdomen of the young Uchiha.

"Don't worry about him." Madara had said, while he savored with his eyes the gorgeous picture in front of him.

Itachi grunted, but said nothing. He sure didn't enjoy the feeling of having the eyes of that fucking fetishist constantly on him, while Madara was sucking his nipples.

"I'm feeling generous today Itachi."

Madara left his nipples and placed butterfly kisses on his stomach, working his way down to his groin.

"Not only I'm going to relieve you from your sexual frustration, I will also let you deal with Orochimaru. The only thing I want from you is…" he put his hand on Itachi's erection, and rubbed it through his boxers, making the younger let out an almost inaudible moan "…more dedication of you to Akatsuki. And I don't want to hear your brother's name again in no circumstance whatsoever, so I advise you to make a good and final deal with Orochimaru. What do you say, Itachi?"

Itachi couldn't help to let out another moan when Madara rubbed his thumb on a pulsing vein of his cock, even over the fabric of his boxers. It was undeniable that the guy was really good at that. Years of experience cannot be erased.

"I accept your _generosity_…" The prodigy replied.

Smirking, Madara pulled Itachi's erection out of his boxers and leaned his head down to taste the appetizing manhood.

And the Korean voyeur remained seated in his dark corner, watching both of them in silent self-pleasure.

* * *

Itachi arrived home late that Friday, and once again, only silence welcomed him. It was as if nobody lived there.

Dolls don't make a sound.

Itachi sighed heavily and threw his keys on the table beside the door, noisily. He removed his shoes and kicked them sideways, not bothering to stow them properly.

'_Damn Madara and his stupid wines…'_

His head was starting to hurt, announcing that a pretty bad hangover would be had in the next morning. Though, his head wasn't as bad as his state of humor.

He was in a bad mood.

The reason to why Itachi was in bad mood is no more important than the actions that were about to be unleashed due to such humor trivialities. Maybe 'trivialities' is not the correct word, as the prodigy was experiencing a constant load of worries during the past month.

Orochimaru wasn't the only one to blame.

Truth was, the prodigy had never expected that things would be like this when he decided to follow Madara's tragic plan. 'Immaturity' would probably be the the proper word to explain why Itachi was having such a hard time dealing with so many responsibilities at the same time, no matter how he hated to admit it.

Madara's sexual advances were now starting to bother him. Not because of the act itself – sex was sex; it was always a pleasant and enjoyable activity as it was going to the Tokyo National Museum (especially when they had those _katana_ exhibitions, Itachi just loved it). What did bother him was that he was beginning to recognize that Madara's view on their relationship didn't settle for purely business and pleasure. In fact, Itachi was afraid that his relative was trying to extrapolate their detached sexual activity into intimacy values.

He didn't want to be Madara's _lover_. Or boyfriend. Or whatever people nowadays called it.

He didn't want to play his little game anymore, as if Itachi was some fucking reincarnation of his dead brother just because Madara couldn't keep the idiot alive. Itachi wasn't interested in intimacy, in _love_.

Unfortunately, it was Madara who dictated the rules of the game, whether Itachi liked it or not. He knew that if he made the wrong move, he could risk very important things to him.

He could risk the custody of Sasuke.

After all, the only reason why that judge was so nice to him; was because Madara 'knew' him (in all sort of _intimate _ways). Being still 19, with a post-graduation course still unfinished, Itachi's lack of experience would be reason enough to be declared unable to take care of a 14 year old all by himself. Without a job, Itachi was sure that no judge in Japan would give him that permission, especially without Madara's influence.

It's just… the idea of giving Sasuke away – he was _his_, his _property_ – to the care of some strangers…

No, no, no. He would keep the kid under his roof, no matter what it cost. He didn't go to all the trouble of getting rid of all his family members for nothing! Even if he had to…

Itachi sighed heavily, and put his jacked on the coat hanger.

'_Stress'_ had been foreign concept to him until now. There were so-many-fucking-things that weren't going as he initially had planned.

Besides Madara, Orochimaru was being a pain in the ass.

He was getting exhausted of trying to come up with ways to get rid of that nagging snake-like faggot. Can you believe that Orochimaru actually put on a price Sasuke? 100 million yen was his last offer (considerably high for a doll). Of course, Itachi wasn't going to sell him. His doll was not for sale.

Sasuke wasn't exactly helping matters either, because he didn't do anything.

He didn't _react._

Except around that Uzumaki kid.

Itachi didn't exactly know what infuriated him more: if it was the fact that stupid blonde kid could make his doll smile, or the fact that Itachi couldn't.

Or the fact that the stupid blonde kid could make his doll react.

Or the fact that the stupid blonde kid could touch him…

(His fists were already hurting.)

Just _imagining_ that obnoxious kid's dirty hands on places that belonged to him and only him made his fury burn in the apex of his throat, his nails dug into the palm of his hands, lacerating the flesh until a faint drop of blood began trailing down his right fist.

Itachi knew he was drunk, and his imagination was getting the best of him. He undid his aching fists when he heard some faint noises coming from Sasuke's bedroom.

Sasuke was still awake.

His cock was already hardening.

Cleaning the blood off his hand with a tissue, Itachi crossed the living room with inaudible steps, quickly reaching the closed door of his brother's room.

He could hear it – faint, but so sweet – a barely contained moan from his little brother's mouth. It was musical, the sound of his beautiful doll –not lifeless– masturbating; it was _thrilling_, like the long-awaited note that Mozart needed to make his symphony play.

…Aah, how Itachi had fantasized about hearing Sasuke moan again. His body –he wanted to touch his body, he wanted to feel it–, and Sasuke was touching himself behind that door…

His stiff crotch was hurting so much. He couldn't hold on anymore.

He needed him.

While he pushed the doorknob and entered inside the room, he remembered thinking it was a good thing he didn't put latches on the doors.

.

.

* * *

(1) Japan's age of majority is (still) 20. There is a debate going on at the moment to lower it to 18.

An 'emancipated minor' is when an underage gains the rights of an adult due to certain circumstances.

The cases of a Family Court in Japan are handled by a single judge.

* * *

.

**a/n: **(Sigh) About the Russian mafia/mob: 'Russian mafia' is a term used by the journalists to designate dangerous organized crime syndicates that exists since the fall of the USSR. Most of them are concentrated in Russia, but there're also reports of criminal activity related to these gangs in Eastern Europe, Spain, USA, Canada, and…Israel, I think. British journalists love to use this fancy term, but American reportages generally use the known names of these gangs.

_Book suggestion: Misha Glenny is a British journalist who studied global organized crime and recently published a book entitled McMafia where he refers the Russian mafia, among other criminal gangs._


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning:** Non-consensual sex.

* * *

.

Chapter 11: The error of one moment becomes the sorrow of a whole life

.

.

It was wondrous, that sight.

Half-naked Sasuke lying in the bed, gripping feverishly a hardened member, pulled out from black elastic boxers; bangs completely spread over a slightly flushed face. The dim illumination of the bedside lamp barely unveiled the arousing beauty of his prey, but he still noticed the faint sweat drop trailing down the boy's temple. That tempting skin glowing with the bliss the boy was indulged in.

It was terribly erotic.

Sasuke jolted when his brother walked into the room without warning, and tried to cover his shame immediately with the bed sheets.

"'The fuck are you doing here?"

His face reddened violently, his heart beat started racing manically with the embarrassment and anger of being caught. Also with the frustration of being forced to brutally interrupt the pleasure.

In few eager steps, Itachi reached the bed and loomed over the frozen figure.

"W-what do you want? Get out!" Sasuke yelled, still shocked and embarrassed, while gripping hard the sheets against his naked chest.

Itachi didn't listen.

He snatched the bed's clothes off Sasuke, exposing again the erotic beauty to his lust-filled eyes. He barely gave him time to react, before he pinned him against the mattress. Grabbing the boy's hand, he and put it back on the abandoned arousal. Itachi had decided to help him finish the job and kept those trembling fingers around the erection with his own strong hand.

"What the he-" Sasuke's protest was sharply cut when Itachi forced a stroke on his erection, making his hand move accordingly.

Itachi was forcing him to continue the masturbation.

Sasuke tried to free his weak hand from his erection but Itachi kept his grip firmly around his fingers, and made him pump it again.

"Stop it!" He yelled, frightened, but to no avail.

Itachi was on top of him; his knees trapped the sides of his body, his free hand on Sasuke's shoulder to keep him laid down against the bed. He began pumping the member mercilessly, and Sasuke couldn't stop his body from responding to the pleasure loudly.

It was _insane_.

It was worse than the bathroom episode, because it was even more humiliating. It was as if his brother was punishing him for catching him masturbating, forcing him to continue the deed while he was watching him do it.

(As if Itachi read his thoughts when he was masturbating.)

It was so sick, and Sasuke didn't know what it was the sickest truth: Itachi doing to him or the fact that he was getting an enormous and disgusting pleasure from it.

"S-stop plea…aah…!"

He felt his orgasm coming and knew he wasn't going to be able to hold on anymore. He climaxed shamefully under his brother's gaze, feeling the warm drops of his semen fall over his stomach while his member spasmodically emptied under his hand and Itachi's fingers.

Itachi didn't waste any more time to ravish the boy's mouth, while he was still dazed with reality. Sasuke barely registered that Itachi had freed his hand from his relieved member to roam over his exposed skin, in an urging need to feel everything of his body.

He barely registered when Itachi left his mouth to trail down his neck, tasting the skin at the hollow between his collarbones. Itachi's frantic tongue slid down his chest to lick around his nipple and started sucking it.

Sasuke's smell was intoxicating. The natural fragrance of his skin, combined with the intense smell of his sex, and the shampoo's perfume of his hair; it was pure pleasure to Itachi's nostrils. It was consuming him like the way a desperate drug-addict sniffs the last remains of his cocaine.

His mouth left the boy's swollen nipple to taste the semen spread over Sasuke's abdomen, sucking the skin while he swallowed the milky liquid hungrily.

"Itachi?" Sasuke questioned his brother's actions faintly, after 'recovering' from the orgasm.

Itachi didn't listen, and mercilessly pulled down the black boxers before Sasuke could have time to react.

The prodigy's animalistic desires had been unleashed. Itachi couldn't stop himself.

"What are you doing?"

His indignation didn't make the aroused prodigy's actions stop, as Itachi tossed the piece of clothing aside and attacked the skin of his jaw and neck. In fact, Itachi become even more beastlike, sucking hungrily the skin of his neck. Sasuke grimaced when he felt a soothing ache on his neck, and it didn't take long for him to realize that his brother was literally biting him.

"Get off of me! Get off!"

Terrorized by his brother's scary behavior, the young raven started squirming violently, attempting to jerk that possessed body on top of him away. Itachi kept a firm hold on him, pinning him against the mattress with his arms strength and his body weight, rendering Sasuke's attempts futile.

A whirl of conflicting emotions dwelled inside Sasuke's mind, causing him some dizziness and disorientation. He didn't know what was going on. Itachi was scaring him. Itachi was…

"Itachi! Stop it!" He screamed when his brother bit him again on another part of his neck.

Yet Itachi failed to hear his brother again. Cursed by lust, his outward senses were dim as the burning contact with Sasuke's hot skin instigated the incubus inside of him.

His rational thinking was officially on hiatus.

A natural instinct of self-defense made Sasuke do the only thing he knew: he bit Itachi on his jaw with all the strength of his body. Taken in by surprise, the older Uchiha jolted, massaged immediately the aching skin of his jaw. Sasuke instinctively jumped out of his brother's grip and automatically tumbled to the ground, bumping hard against the wooden floor. His arm, bent in an inappropriate position for a bump like that, got painfully injured. He let out an agonized scream, knowing for sure that he had broken a bone.

_Crick-_

A sound made by the mattress' springs when Itachi moved to where Sasuke had fallen.

Scared, he clumsily got up and started running away, disregarding the pain in his arm. As he passed through the exit of his room, he heard Itachi's feet land on the floor and running behind him.

"Sasuke!"

He kept running through the hallway, ignoring his name being called by the demon that possessed his brother.

Then he stomped on his own feet and fell on the floor with a panicked scream. As he was about to get up, he felt a pair of hands grab his arms firmly.

"Let me go!"

He squirmed violently in Itachi's arms, and automatically grimaced when he felt a shooting pain, which made him remember his injured arm.

Itachi, on the other hand, held Sasuke tightly against his chest and buried his nose in his hair, smelling his shampoo scent with closed eyes. An outsider, any stranger out of context, would find that image of the two brothers endearing and perhaps tragically romantic. As they were both kneeled on the hard wooden floor, in a dark hallway, the elder hugging tightly to the younger passionately.

"Sshh…it's ok…" Itachi whispered in Sasuke's ear.

The raven had calmed down, seeing that his brother was just…holding him. Itachi had placed his arms around Sasuke's half-naked body and seemed to be concentrated in sniffing his hair, nuzzling his face against the dark spiky locks. Sasuke was still with his back against Itachi's chest.

"Sshh…"

Panting heavily, Sasuke felt his frightened heart, start to slow down by his brother's sweet voice. Whatever 'possessed' his brother earlier, seemed to be gone now.

Itachi placed a soft kiss on his nape, through his hair. Then he placed another on his neck, near his ear. Then he placed some others on his neck, slowly descending down his back.

Sasuke winced. His cardiac rhythmic resumed its previous erratic beating.

"I…Itachi…?"

Itachi made him turn around so he could continue place more kisses on his chest. The frightened boy jolted and began fighting against his grip again. He ended up falling on his behind, and the _prodigy_, not wanting to let his prey go, fell on top of him. Unaffectedly, Itachi continued kissing his neck, gripping stiffly his arms, his body pressing against Sasuke's.

Sasuke gasped when he felt something hard pressing against his thigh. It didn't take long for him to conclude that that 'something hard' could only mean one thing…

Itachi was about to rape him.

"Get off of me! Itachi! _Please_!"

His screams and convulsions weren't enough to stop the predator. He didn't understand why Itachi was doing that to him. Was it…punishment? It couldn't be, no, no…

Sasuke didn't want _it_. He didn't want it with his brother. The images that go on in your head while you masturbate are confusing and harmless! They have nothing to do with reality, he-didn't-want-it! Reality was totally different!

Sasuke's heartbeat was too loud; he failed to hear the unzipping sound.

"Ssh…"

Itachi kept _ssh_ing, while he sucked another piece of flesh from his already bruised chest. It was like he was trying to comfort him for the things he was about to do.

That was when Sasuke felt something _wet _touching his entrance. Itachi had one hand gripping is arm, and the other on his waist. That something hot and wet, brushing against his tensed asshole, that was…

The boy squirmed violently.

"NO! Don't! Please!"

_He didn't want to!_

His head was spinning, his stomach tightened, he wanted to vomit but he knew he wouldn't.

"Stop it Itachi, I don't!..."

With all his strength, he tried push away his soon-to-be rapist brother, desperately, even though his invalid arm was obstructing his moves. The swelling was taking over his arm, and the pain was becoming too great to be simply ignored.

Itachi didn't hear his little brother's desperate screams when he pushed himself into that tensed entrance. He let out a loud moan of pleasure when those hot, hard muscles pressed tightly around his cock.

Aah…what a wonderful feeling…

Itachi was in heaven. He had never felt anything like that before.

Like he was in a semi-conscious state, he began moving back and forth, feeding himself that wonderful feeling. He created a more and more accelerated rhythm while the body below him was about to break.

Sasuke didn't feel his swollen arm anymore. The pain of his ripped anus was steadily growing to become almost unbearable as Itachi sped up his imperious rhythm. His head was spinning around too fast, making him feel dizzy; his throat was dried with the abuse he put his vocal cords through with all the screaming.

He became mute.

It lasted so long.

It never ended. The pain never ceased.

_Thump, thump…_

He felt everything.

Itachi's body moving back and forth on top of him, the uncomfortable black cotton of his shirt brushing against Sasuke's naked chest. The shirt was a bit moistened because his brother was sweating.

All his feelings were painfully accurate – so accurate that he just couldn't stand anymore.

He fainted after Itachi came inside him.

* * *

"_Nii-san! Guess what?"_

_At the door, a perky white head with tousled raven locks peeped into Itachi's room._

"_What?" _

_Itachi put down his pen over the photocopies he was reading to give his full attention to his brother. It was becoming a common occurrence for him to have a visit from Sasuke after dinner in his room._

"_I'm smarter now!" _

_The small boy entered in the room with a big smile, holding a small thick book in his right hand. He already had his white lignum pajamas on. With that skin of his and those big black eyes, he looked like a little angel inside the white fabric._

"_Oh?" _

_Itachi couldn't help smiling at the energetic little boy trying to hold firmly a thick dictionary, not very big though._

_He momentarily wondered what Sasuke was doing with such an item. _

"_Ask me a word!"_

_The little boy exclaimed, handing the book to Itachi. The older took the book, not really sure what his little brother was trying to prove to him at that time._

"_I know every meaning!" Sasuke uttered proudly, placing his hands on his hips, wanting eagerly to prove his knowledge to his brother. He had been trying to memorize all the words of that dictionary for MONTHS, and now it was time for his brother to know what he is truly capable of._

_Because now, he could participate in Itachi and father's conversations, he understood the meaning of big words. He was smarter now._

"_You memorized this?"_

"_Yes! C'mon nii-san, ask me a word!"_

_Itachi lifted an eyebrow. Still puzzled, Itachi glanced through the pages, stopping at a random section._

"_Ok, then… what is 'façade'?"_

"_The face of a building!" Came the proud answer._

"_Very well." He skimmed through more pages. "And 'cuneiform'?"_

_Sasuke's forehead wrinkled, as he was thinking hard, trying to remember the meaning he had memorized._

"_Ugh…eto…wedge-shaped…?"_

_Itachi frowned. Apparently the kid only memorized the first meaning of each word, but nevertheless, it was very impressive._

_But Sasuke couldn't possibly memorize _all the words_. Even with a junior dictionary._

"_Correct. And what about 'rhapsodic'?"_

"_Er…eto…hm…" Sasuke put a finger on his chin while he thought about the word, having his bright eyes wide opened looking to no specific place._

_Itachi almost laugh at his expression: he looked so adorable thinking with that pose. Mesmerized with his little brother's cuteness, he almost forgot his purpose as the 'judge' when Sasuke asked:_

"_Can you put it in a sentence?"_

_Itachi eyed him again, slowly undoing his petrified stare to glance at the dictionary, and read the meaning and saying:_

"_I am very rhapsodic about your achievement." _

_Somehow, the sentence he had just made up didn't make much sense but he was still too mesmerized with his little brother's performance to think about it._

"_Oh…very delighted!"_

_Itachi widened his eyes. He was very impressed. Rhapsodic, even._

"_Very good, Sasuke."_

"_But nii-san…if rhapsodic means 'very delighted', then you can't say 'very rhapsodic' because then it would mean 'very very delighted' and it doesn't make sense!"_

_The older chuckled, and patted the young child on the head, feeling the soft lustrous hair. _

"_You're right, Sasuke. You're very smart. You even corrected me."_

_Sasuke's smile widened, his eyes shined even more._

"_Ask me another word!"_

_Itachi was perplexed with the kid's enthusiasm. If it was up to Sasuke, they could be up all night in that little 'word-test', as if they had no more obligations._

_Well, at least Itachi had. He had to study for an exam tomorrow morning. Sasuke had to go to bed, it was already 9 o'clock. _

"_It's getting a little late, don't you think?"_

"_But nii-san…I know a lot more words…" Sasuke pouted, not hiding the sadness of his eyes. He worked so hard learning all the words…_

_Looking at those adorable puppy-dog-eyes, Itachi reconsidered his choice. There was a universal truth that no intellectual human being could deny: little Sasuke was the cutest thing alive._

_So he concluded that it would be much more enjoyable spending the night with Sasuke rather than studying for a uninteresting test. Who cares if he gets an A- this time?_

"_Okay then. Let's see..." He started skimming through the pages of the little dictionary again, earning a wide grin from Sasuke._

_As he was searching for more words to ask his little brother, he couldn't help to feel very rhapsodic about the idea of being 'taught' words by his 10-year-old brother. Oops, scratch 'very'. Just rhapsodic._

_After all, he didn't even know what 'rhapsodic' meant until Sasuke told him._

* * *

Itachi woke up with the first sunrays of the morning. He didn't open his eyes immediately; that lovely dream was still lingering in his mind and he didn't want to let it go.

However, the impetuous clarity of the morning forced his eyes open and the sweet memory went once more into the rear of his subconscious. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, still smiling.

He never had slept so well.

His head was a bit dizzy; his muscles were incredibly tired. He noticed that he was still dressed; he probably had fallen asleep on top of the blanket. Yawning again, he looked at the right side of his bed, where he had laid Sasuke's body to sleep…

He wasn't there.

Wait.

What happened last night?

'_Oh fuck…'_

Fragmented images of last night's activity began accumulating inside his mind as his memory was being built. He remembered how Sasuke's skin was burning in his lips and hands. He remembered Sasuke's mouth twisting to pronounce some screaming words, though he doesn't remember hearing them.

He remembered how wonderful it felt entering inside him and…

He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe what he had done.

'_Shit.'_

He buried his head into his hands, his claws digging into his skull as painfully hard as the anger that was boiling in the apex of his throat.

'_Shit, shit, shit.'_

How could he had _fucking rape_d him? What the hell was wrong with him, he couldn't endure a little hard on anymore? How could…

How could he loose control just like that…?

"FUCK!"

His arm flew in rage and threw to the floor the lamp, the alarm clock on the bedside table, provoking a piercing noise when the glassy objects splattered against the hard wood.

He stood up aggressively from his bed, having one barefoot treading on the glass. He didn't wince with the pain of having a sharp piece stuck into his flesh while he stepped out the room, heading towards his brother's room in an intense haste.

His heart was pounding madly.

He opened Sasuke's door to see that he was not inside. His bed was untouched.

"Sasuke!" He shouted through the hallway, while running to the kitchen, leaving a half-bloodied footprint on his trail.

Sasuke wasn't in the kitchen either.

The living room, the bathroom – not even the slightest presence of him.

He just fucked up. Everything; the peaceful life he was so hard at working for the two of them, he _had_ _to fuck it up._

He just couldn't keep his fucking dick inside his pants.

Itachi still couldn't understand how such a thing could happen. He was no rapist; he had little predisposition to emotional understanding, yes, but he perfectly knew that forced sex led to nowhere.

He didn't even respect rapists. Rapists are no more than pathetic little creatures who liked to impose their mindless need for dominance on weaker victims through sexual humiliation. Itachi remembered discussing that with Shisui, one time…

'_For a prodigy you turned out to be a fucking idiot.'_

Sliding his way through the walls of the long hallway, he stopped to let his body fall heavily to the floor.

His head was aching terribly.

Noticing the sharp pain coming from his foot, he bent his leg horizontally and leaned forward to remove the bits of glass that cut his flesh. Even though the foot continued to spill blood and stained his pale fingers.

When he finished the task he leaned against the wall behind him again. Damn, what a hellish hangover... The foot didn't hurt so much.

He let out a satirical laugh, not really understanding what he was finding funny.

Oh yes… this was funny.

The feeling he hadn't recognized before, the feeling that made his head ache and stifled his breathing. The void in his chest growing and-

He was _angry _with himself. He had never been so pissed with his own person before.

No, he wasn't just _angry_; It was more than that he…

Was there a word for it?

Sasuke wasn't there to tell him.

Little Sasuke who had once memorized a dictionary just to impress him, wasn't there to tell him.

He had run away.

From_ him_.

Itachi gasped and inhaled forcefully a big whiff of air, almost making him cough, choking on his own air.

He raised his hand to touch his throat, inwardly certifying that there wasn't a knife stabbed there. He massaged it slightly, mitigating the choking feeling.

What a horrible feeling. Was that how people felt when they unintentionally ravished their own property?

That's when he noticed the stains on the floor.

He stood up and walked to the spot where dried stains of fluids with different shapes were stamped. One of the stains was clearly semen – _his semen._

The other was blood. Three perfectly round tiny drops of dried blood. Not the blood from his foot, no.

It was blood from last night. Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke was hurt.

_(Of course he was hurt. Itachi hurt him. Itachi raped him. He raped little Sasuke.)_

In an abrupt movement, Itachi crossed the living room to the entrance and grabbed the jacket that had his wallet. He put on his shoes before he left the apartment, banging the door behind.

* * *

The Uzumaki kid lived farther from their apartment than Itachi expected, considering that the kid used to accompany Sasuke home after school. That fact only contributed to aggravate Itachi's suspicions about the true 'friendship' intentions of the stupid blonde kid towards his little brother, though it wasn't the time to think about it.

Best friends don't walk each other to their homes. Unless they're _boyfriends_.

'_Calm down. What you're thinking is completely illogical_.'

Itachi forced himself to dismiss the thoughts of his beautiful doll kissing that dork's face, while he looked expressionless through the window of the taxi. In fact, it wouldn't make sense if Sasuke was in a homosexual relationship all of a sudden. As far as he knew, Sasuke had a girlfriend; he wouldn't switch a vagina for a penis without Itachi noticing.

Right?

Why was he thinking about that? Even if Sasuke was gay (which only would make things easier for him), he would never be interested in that loud-mouthed teenager with the disyllabic vocabulary. He probably couldn't say anything smart enough to save his own ass and-

'_What the fuck are you thinking?'_

Really, he was not being lucid at all.

Must be the stress.

Trashing a kid five years younger than him, just because Itachi fucked up things between him and Sasuke, was not the best way to resolve the issues at hand.

Besides, he was starting to sound like some jealous high school girl. Not rational at all.

* * *

It took twenty minutes in the taxi to reach the orphan kid's apartment. When Itachi was about to pay, he was surprised to see his wallet was surprisingly empty.

The 50,000 yen he had in his wallet was gone.

Sasuke had stolen his money.

"_Ano_…Are you going to pay, sir?" The taxi driver interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, sorry. Would you mind telling me your name?"

The taxi driver casted him a dumbfounded look through the mirror. Itachi was writing something he couldn't see.

"Tanaka Sousuke…"

"Tanaka-san, do you take checks?"

Before Tanaka could reply, Itachi rubberstamped the check with his_ hanko _(1) and put it on the seat, before he prepared to leave.

"Er…this is a taxi, s-"

Itachi loudly closed the car door, cutting abruptly the protest of the taxi driver, and walked away towards his destiny.

Now knowing that Sasuke had money with him calmed Itachi down a bit.

Before he rang the bell of Naruto's apartment, he called Kisame to check if he was on his way. He had telephoned earlier in the taxi and ordered him to pick him up there. He hoped that idiot didn't take long to arrive, because he knew how lazy Kisame was in the morning.

Jiraiya, the kid's guardian (and a horrible porn writer, but that's beyond the point), was the one who opened the door. He was still in pajamas and his hair was completely disheveled. This left Itachi to conclude that he has just woken up the man.

"I'm sorry Itachi-kun. Sasuke is not here." He said, while trying to stifle a yawn without success.

It was already 7 am. Didn't these people sleep at night?

"But I can call his friends; maybe they know something about him. I'm sure Naruto has all their contacts."

"I would be very appreciative, Jiraiya-san"

Jiraiya let him enter inside his small apartment, and then disappeared inside the house to wake up the kid. The fifty-year-old man soon appeared with a phonebook in his hands and sleepy blonde kid in pajamas screaming behind him:

"What do you mean Sasuke ran away? How did he run away?"

"With legs." Jiraiya snorted, and began dialing the first number.

"Why did Sasuke run away?" Naruto asked, gazing at Itachi suspiciously.

"We had a fight." Itachi replied bluntly.

"This early?"

"We don't like to sleep until late." The Uchiha snorted, without even giving a glance at the blonde kid, keeping his attention on the parking lot outside to see when Kisame's car would arrive.

"That doesn't make sense. Sasuke likes you a lot; he wouldn't run away like that!"

Itachi grunted an inaudible word, but didn't reply to him.

"Something _serious_ must have happened."

Naruto decided to use an accusation tone this time, but Itachi did his job in ignoring him.

"What's that on your face?"

Itachi touched his bruised jaw, feeling the slightly aching spot that had been bitten by Sasuke.

"I bumped into a door."

He didn't know why he was bothering to justify himself to a fourteen year-old kid.

"Doors don't leave teeth marks." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What did you do to him?"

Stupid obnoxious brat.

"Naruto! Watch your mouth!" Jiraiya yelled through the other side of the not-so-big living room, his attention being immediately drifted to the phone when the person on the other line answered.

"Inuzuka-san? Hi, this is Jiraiya speaking. I'm sorry for being this early but I'm calling to ask if by any chance your son's friend, Uchiha Sasuke, didn't show up at your house this morning? O-oh, me? I, er…you don't know who am I? Eh eh, I supposed it's not surprising, seeing that you're a lady and…_ahem_, I'm Naruto's guardian."

Itachi sighed, thinking to himself that it was probably not entirely Naruto's fault for being such an ungraceful character. He had a fantastic role model around the house.

Through the window, he finally spotted Kisame's Toyota clumsily occupying two parking spaces at once.

"This whole thing just smells _fishy_."

That blonde kid seemed to have a biological inability of keeping his mouth shut. He wouldn't last long in Akatsuki's torturing room. Itachi almost smirked with that thought.

"I'm sorry Itachi-kun, but apparently none of Sasuke's friends know about him."

Jiraiya let go off the telephone, seeming unquestionably worried.

Sighing again, Itachi politely bowed to the older man of the house.

"I am deeply thankful for your help. Sorry for all the trouble I caused you. I'll leave now."

"Hey, where are you going?" The kid shouted.

Itachi was already at the entrance putting on his shoes when he replied to the indignant little creature.

"To look for my brother."

He stood up, putting aside the slippers that Jiraiya gave him. "Now if you may excuse me-"

"Sasuke used to complain that you didn't pay attention to him at all."

That one sentence made Itachi finally look at Naruto. The kid was obviously angered with the whole situation, clenching his fists tightly as if he was ready to enter a wrestling match with Itachi even without logical reason.

"I'm going to look for him too! I don't trust you!" That was his final comeback.

"Naruto, you're not going anywhere!" Jiraiya yelled again.

Naruto glared at his guardian.

"I don't care! Sasuke must be really hurt to run away like that! He's very strong, he doesn't do things like that without a good reason! I'm telling you, I bet _he _did something bad to him!"

He pointed at the door where Itachi was supposed to be, only to notice that the Uchiha had already left.

* * *

Kisame hated a lot of things in life. Waking up early was one of them.

Being awakened by his sexy partner wasn't a bad thing, _a priori_. When Itachi called him to meet him at a street located near a place where many couples liked to have sex with the risk of being 'caught'. (You know, for those who like to do it publicly there's always 'public' places for that) He thought that perhaps, getting his ass out of bed that morning would be, rewarding after all.

Now being woke up early by the sexy voice of his partner for a reason that did not involve sex, was now on the top five list of all the things he hated the most.

Itachi had a hot body, but he was not exactly the most enjoyable person to spend the morning with. Or the entire day. Sure they were friends, but it's not like they had anything in common.

You'd say the same thing if you tried to discuss politics with Itachi (or any other topic of debate). The Uchiha had the annoying habit of giving complicated answers to simple questions.

"_Itachi-san, what do you think of the death penalty?"_

"_That's a perfect example of natural law being converted into positive law. Natural law attempts, by the justness of the ends, to justify the means, positive law to guarantee the justness of the ends through the justification of the means. Of course this antinomy would prove insoluble if the common dogmatic assumptions were false, that is, if justified means on the one hand and just ends on the other were in irreconcilable conflict."_ (2)

See?

The scariest thing of it was that Itachi could say the exact same thing in four different languages. Understanding him in Japanese was already hard enough.

No wonder Itachi and Madara got along so well. Madara talked like that too. Kinda problematic when the leader is giving orders while citing Confucius, and in the end, you just don't know what the hell you're supposed to do. Though it is funny when Madara starts rambling complicated sentences while torturing his victims, it made philosophy sound much more interesting.

Anyway, back to Itachi. He was boring as a friend, egocentric as a partner, but Kisame was sure that their relationship would work much better on a sexual level.

He almost jolted when Itachi entered his car, unnoticeable as always. The Uchiha had to loose the annoying habit of appearing in people's life without warning. Kisame grunted to himself.

Though he refrained himself to make any comment, and eyed his partner.

Itachi looked different. Kisame might say, he looked somewhat _disturbed_. That was not characteristically Itachi.

"What happened?"

It took a while for Itachi to reply to Kisame's question, and he did it with an uncharacteristically fragile voice:

"Sasuke used to complain that I didn't pay attention to him."

That was not at all like Itachi, saying something so trivial (and stupidly obvious) like that.

"So? You don't pay attention to me either. You're that uncaring." Kisame grinned.

Instead of the Uchiha admitting that he was right, the he should be paying more attention to people (especially to Kisame), Itachi only glared dangerously at him and uttered:

"Drive."

Kisame undid his grin and turned on the engine.

"Where are we going?"

It was only then that the prodigy realized that he didn't know where he should start searching for Sasuke. There were tons of places where the kid could have run to. He could be hiding _everywhere._

Itachi leaned back against his seat, somewhat awestruck by the sudden awareness.

Tokyo was too big.

.

.

* * *

(1) _Hankos_ are the Japanese equivalent of a signature for a westerner. They're like rubberstamps but made of stone, wood or horn, that have engraved the kanjis of the owner.

(2) Walter Benjamin's theory of violence (shamelessly copy-pasted from some webpage somewhere). Mr. Benjamin is one complicated dude.


	12. Chapter 12

**Warning: **Minor gore (implied).

* * *

.

Chapter 12: It is later than you think

.

.

"_Oh, this word: what does 'vituperative' mean?"_

"_Vitu-pu…"_

"_Vituperative." Itachi repeated the word, barely able to hide his enthusiasm._

_Sasuke was quite bewildered with his stoic brother. He has never seen his brother so excited before; even his bed, where they were both seated, oscillated every time he skimmed the pages to find more words. It had been one hour since Sasuke came to his bedroom with a dictionary, and now Itachi seemed to be more thrilled with the idea then him._

_His nii-san was being so _weird_._

_Two knocks on the door interrupted the boys._

"_Itachi? Is Sasuke in there?" It was their mother, probably to put Sasuke to bed._

"_Yes." The older replied._

_Mikoto opened the door, just enough to stick her head into the room and scold her youngest son:_

"_Sasuke! You should have been in bed one hour ago!"_

_Their mother had her typical angry face that she used when Sasuke rebelled against his bedtime – which was almost every day._

_The child winced at his mother's authoritative tone, but the older boy placed his arm around him. _

_He answered to their mother:_

"_Don't worry, mother. He'll be sleeping here with me."_

_Sasuke felt his jaw drop to his knees. Itachi was letting him sleep with him? It wasn't even his birthday!_

"_But dear…don't you have a test tomorrow?" Mikoto asked with a frown._

"_I have studied already." _

_Sasuke decided to contribute his two cent as well. _

"_C'mon mom! Let me sleep here! Please…?" _

_He used his special 'pouting face', as he knew that this would get his wishes easily granted._

_Mikoto sighed. _

"_Ok then… Obey your brother Sasuke, don't cause him trouble. And Itachi, I expect you to put him to bed now. Don't let him watch TV, it can cause him nightmares."_

"_I know how to take care of Sasuke, mother." He chuckled. He was strangely excited at having his brother sleeping with him._

"_I'm serious Itachi! Last time you let him watch TV until midnight and he got nightmares for a week! You know how sensitive your brother is."_

"_Mom…" Sasuke coyly bowed his head, trying to hide the red tainted cheeks from his brother. Their mother didn't have to _remind _Itachi of his weaknesses! How would he ever impress his brother if his own mother kept portraying him like a weakling?_

"_Don't worry mother." Itachi stated. "We're going to bed right now. Good night."_

_Mikoto glanced one last time to her second child a little wary with the idea of letting her baby cared for by the 'not-so-responsible-older-brother'._

_Sasuke was really happy though, those wide smiles were becoming rare._

"_Ok, dear. Good night, boys." With that, she closed the door._

"_Yay !I'm sleeping here!" _

_With excitement, Sasuke began jumping on his brother's bed, making the piece of furniture fluctuate with the rhythm of his hops. The bed's wooden platform pounded soundly against the wall every time the little boy made a jump._

"_Sasuke, stop it. You're making a lot of noise."_

_Even though he wanted to appear serious to his little brother, Itachi couldn't help but laugh a bit. Sasuke looked so funny making those expressions while he jumped._

"_You're laughing! Ha!" Sasuke said, clumsily pointing to Itachi, without stopping his jumping. _

"_I'll jump for 1.465 years if this makes you laugh, nii-san!"_

"_1.465 years?"_

"_Yeah!"_

_All the while, the bed's platform registered a measured _"thump, thump, thump"_ against the wall, while the brothers joyful laughs added new symphonies to the little orchestra._

* * *

_Thump, thump, thump…_

Sasuke woke up with the rhythmic sound of something being slammed against the wall.

His bones were screaming from the hardness of the mattress he was lying on. His nose cringed; the orange bedspread had a strong odor of tobacco. He moved a bit, and immediately felt the sharp pain coming from his arm. He knew he had to be careful with his arm, it was probably broken.

When he tried to heave his body from the horizontal position, dizziness overran his senses and he almost fell back on the mattress. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he waited a few seconds for the uncomfortable dizziness to dissipate before he stood up.

_Thump, thump!_

"_Ah!...Aahh!...Oh, yess! Yes, right there-…ah…!"_

Sasuke grimaced, and gathered his arm around his stomach while he headed towards the small bathroom of the room. It made him feel nauseated, hearing the sexual performance of the couple next door.

Once inside the white cubicle, the disgusting moans became less audible. He performed breathing exercises to calm the sickness that threatened to throw out the contents of his stomach.

He looked into the mirror, and a pale face with rings around black eyes looked back at him.

He looked disgusting.

Jumbled images flashed through his mind; the mixed odor of his brother's cologne and sweat raided his senses as his memories brought him back to the raw feelings he did not want to remember, crumbling his apparent numbness.

What Itachi did to him…

Hastily he opened the faucet and splashed his face with water. He repeated the task compulsively until he heard three knocks suddenly on the door.

He stopped, turned off the faucet, and listened closely.

Again, more knocks on the wood. Has Itachi found him already?

Anxiety began to overpower him and his stomach got stuck in the apex of his throat.

It's not Itachi. It's not Itachi.

He mentally encouraged himself to cross the fifteen feet of the modest room to the door. His heart was performing the drum beatings of a suspense movie as the knocking became louder. As he was walking, his stomach was tightening itself up into an empty gnarl, and he vaguely realized that he hadn't eaten anything for the past 18 hours.

Ignoring the feeling of feebleness, anxiety and fear, he opened the door cautiously, only to find the hotel clerk with a programmed smile that seemed plastered on his face.

"Is everything ok?" The man asked. He was in his thirties, not very tall, with a square face and squinty eyes.

"Yes." Sasuke couldn't suppress the light growl of his stomach accompanying his response. He was about to close the door but the man's hand grabbed the door's edge, his other hand landing on the frame, preventing it to shut.

"Do you want something to eat?" His smile widened as he took a step inside, irking the young Uchiha.

"No."

"Are you sure you don't want anything…_Sasuke_-kun?"

Sasuke took a step back, gazing at the stranger in bewilderment. "How you…?"

"…know your name?"

The man grinned, took the chance to enter inside the room, and closed the door behind him. The 'click' sound of the lock was heard, cutting sharply into the dead silence of the room.

Sasuke didn't understand. He gave a false name at the reception…

"Let's say I have a friend…who is looking for you right now."

The man was slowly advancing towards him, and Sasuke kept accompanying his pace by advancing backwards.

"But you see, my friend only looks for people who he wants to kill. I guess you're in deep shit, Sasuke-kun."

Kill? What the hell he was talking about?

"You know that fire that was on the news two months ago? You know all those rich stuck-ups that were burnt to death?"

The clerk kept moving forward at an impetuously slow pace. His grin widened to the point of exaggeration, impressing Sasuke. He didn't know that facial muscles could stretch so much.

"It was_ their_ doing."

He laughed.

Sasuke was too confused to understand what he was trying to say; right now, he was too preoccupied in maintaining a safe distance between him and that lunatic.

Without warning, the man jumped on him, making him fall to the floor and hit his head hard on the wood. A horrible headache filled his head immediately, and he grimaced hard as if it would mitigate the pain. His broken arm was no better.

It took a while for him to notice what the man was trying to do with his body.

"Aren't you a pretty thing?"

The man's horrible breath was all over his face. He probably had his last meal a little while ago, and it must had beans and seaweeds included in it.

"It's such a pity that you're a target. I think I'm going to enjoy you a bit before they arrive…"

And onions. Definitely onions.

Sasuke felt the man's sweaty hands inside his T-shirt, and his humid tongue disgustingly trailing over his neck. He tried to scream but his voice was suddenly too dried out to make a sound. He tried to push the heavy body from him but his muscles weren't responding appropriately.

Oh no, not again… He was realizing what destiny was planning to do to him again. The images, not again… the pain, not again… He refused. No way was he going to let that happen for a second time!

He _refused_ to get raped again.

* * *

"You know we have a meeting in one hour, right?"

Kisame had just stopped the car in front of the fifth hotel they were about to visit. Tediously he switched to reverse gear to park in a very tight place between two cars. Too tight in fact. Not that it mattered for Kisame.

"We'll get there as soon as we find my brother."

Itachi frowned when his body got slightly projected forward upon Kisame's technique to arrange parking space for his Toyota. He just hoped the owner of the car behind them wasn't anywhere near. It would only be a hindrance in his search if he had to deal with an angry car owner.

"Madara doesn't like us to be late."

The shark-looking man adjusted his car to the space, by pressing on the accelerator and literally pushing the car in front, so that he could be granted with more space.

Even now Itachi still wondered if his friend was really Japanese, like the exception that confirms the rule.

"Madara is not of my concern right now."

"I'm serious Itachi-san! You know what happened to that boy with the bad and tweed tuxedo? He once arrived late for only 10 minutes, Madara got pissed, and you know what he did? He chopped off his finger and made him swallow it."

Itachi lifted an eyebrow.

"You saw that?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. Don't you think it's a bit overreacting for a little lateness?"

"Nothing I wouldn't expect of him." He shrugged.. "Let's go."

Itachi left out of the car and Kisame followed his action, pressing the key button to lock it.

"But now thinking about it, there was this other guy who stole some money and Madara ordered for his foot to be cut off! Chopped it into pieces and forced him to swallow it all. The guy vomited and he made him swallow his own vomit. I saw that man, it was disgusting…. And you know that black guy, from the casino?"

Boy, Kisame sure was talkative…

Itachi sighed, and walked towards the entrance of the hotel. Kisame followed him, continuing the story-telling of his adventures inside Madara's torture chamber:

"That guy, who made the wrong bet and lost a lot of Akatsuki's money? Madara made him swallow his own balls." Kisame didn't even lower his voice while inside the rather silent hall of the hotel. "I think Madara has some kind of fetish with swallowing body parts." He reasoned.

"I agree with you on that." The young Uchiha murmured but Kisame didn't listen.

The reception was empty, matching the soulless presence of the hall (after all, it wasn't the most requested hotel in Japan). Itachi pressed the desk bell and in a few seconds, a man in his fifties with an unfriendly face made an appearance before them.

"Where's Takashi?" Kisame asked.

The man responded with a shrug and some chewed words in form of a question. "'What d'ya want with him?"

"He said he checked in a teenage boy early this morning. Good looking, black hair spiky in the back…wearing black clothes…"

"I wasn't here this morning."

Kisame sighed heavily. He was getting tired with the entire search, and his patience was wearing thin. Threatening lazy employees to answer to his wishes, would definitely faster.

"Ok, just let me talk with Takashi."

"He's on his break. Probably smokin' outside."

"I didn't see him outside."

The man just shrugged again, completely uninterested in helping them. At that point, Itachi had probably concluded that again, Kisame was only slowing things down.

He slightly leaned over the reception desk to close the distance between him the shorter man in his very intimidating way.

"Can you tell me what rooms have been rented this morning?"

The man opened his mouth –obviously he was about to try an excuse to deny the request- but Itachi's intensifying glare was enough to silence whatever chewed words were about to leave his mouth. He just dry swallowed before he responded, knowing the answer already:

"Rooms 47, 49 and 69."

Itachi was already pressing the elevator button by the time the man was finished saying the last number. Soon the doors opened and he entered inside the metallic cubicle, followed by Kisame.

"I hope for your own sake that Sasuke is in this hotel." Itachi made that statement as naturally as if he was reporting today's weather, but Kisame knew very well it was an implied threat.

"That's unfair. You know many teenagers with black eyes, black hair and pale skin exist in _Japan_? It's not my fault that my contacts had mistaken him for someone else."

"Sasuke's skin is not just pale, is _bisque_. It's different."

Itachi didn't look at Kisame, too concentrated in the gap on between the elevators doors, and watching the floors coming down in a torturous slow pace.

(They should've taken the stairs.)

"Oh, sorry if I forgot my skin color catalogue at home."

"Spare me your sarcasm. You could have been more specific."

"Like what?"

"14-year-old boy of slender figure with oval shaped face, prominent cheekbones, sharp black eyes, thin and oblique eyebrows, thin nose, well-defined philtrum, narrow mouth with slightly protruding light pink lips. Black hair with indigo shades-"

"Hey hey, I didn't major in Describing People Techniques! And what the hell is the philtrum?"

Itachi ignored his comment.

"And his eyes are not just black, Kisame, it's really black eyes." He took a pause to sigh in annoyance and proceeded:

"It's an Uchiha trait, you certainly have noticed that it's impossible to distinguish the iris from the pupil in our eyes. It's very rare and fairly noticeable, especially during sun hours. You could have said that."

Itachi was arguing with Kisame. Like, _arguing_. Retorting with angry sentences.

Itachi never argued with him before. Basically because he never needed to prove his point with arguing, just his natural icy glare and his inadvertent air of my-IQ-is-the-square-root-of-yours was enough to convince anyone.

But this time, Itachi was arguing. He was _irritated_. Wow.

"Fine." Kisame snorted, but didn't surrender. He still had an ego. "Next time why don't you message _your_ contacts and describe your brother _yourself_?"

The elevator finally reached their destination, and Itachi slid through the still opening doors with hasty and angry steps. Kisame followed him, watching half-amused at his partner's backside moving like a hurricane. He was really angry.

As soon as they reached room number 47, Itachi knocked with a fierce fist. Noises of raunchy activities could be heard from the inside, and Itachi knocked again with more hostility. It didn't take much longer for the door to be opened, and a naked middle aged man opened it with an unfriendly glare.

"What?"

Behind him, they noticed a young girl, high-schooler for sure, laid lustfully on the bed, wearing a pleated skirt and an opened shirt with her breasts showing. From the way she was positioned, they also noticed she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Itachi didn't even grace him with an explanation, he just moved towards the next room and left the naked man staggered at the door.

"Wrong room." Kisame grinned, and followed his partner. He heard the man grunting something and shutting the door loudly.

Room number 49 was ignoring Itachi's hammering on the door.

"Maybe nobody's inside."

"I heard some noises." The Uchiha stated determinedly.

Kisame leaned his ear against the door, and conformed that there were in fact, some noises inside. Turbulent noises, maybe some hollow screams.

"Sounds like someone's fighting."

"Kisame."

"Got it."

Kisame took a few steps backwards, then stopped, grinning. He always knew what Itachi wanted, without the need to express words. But before the procedure, he decided to advise his much more delicate partner, just in case: "You better step aside too, Itachi-san. Hotel doors aren't a joke."

He then wrung his hands, cracked his neck to the right and left, undid the first two buttons of his shirt, and positioned himself for the clash.

The door cracked right immediately at the first try, presenting to them a scenery that was not expected at all.

There he was, finally, the boy they had been looking for the entire day, sitting on the floor in a position that looked like he'd just fell. His hair was completely messed up and his T-shirt looked ripped on the collar. He had reddish bruises on his face and neck. An unidentified peace of…-meat?- rested on his chest under his chin.

There was blood on Sasuke's mouth, on his chin, and there was also blood on the floor. The trail of blood ended on the man kneeled on the floor beside the kid, pressing his bloodied hand onto the left side of his face.

"Takashi?" Kisame looked perplexed to the kneeled man, recognized his contact. The man responded immediately with unbridled screams, pointing a frantic finger at Sasuke:

"Kill him! Kill him! This kid is _crazy_! He tore my ear out!"

Oh, so that piece of meat on Sasuke's chest was part of Takeshi's ear…

"What happened?" Itachi asked Sasuke. He walked towards him, and all he got was another frantic response, this time from an even more scared teenager:

"Get away from me!"

Sasuke tried to get up but stumbled backwards, and Takashi's piece of ear ended up rolling onto the floor.

'_Oh boy…'_ Kisame sighed. He looked at his watch. They were going to be late for Madara's meeting.

"Just kill that freak will ya!" Takashi screamed. "Fuck, I just wanted to have a little fun with him before you guys killed him!"

Oops. He shouldn't have said that.

Kisame made an effort not to laugh, trying not to fuel the furious flames rising in his partner, but the look on Itachi's face was just priceless. Just his skin color changed from pale to complete white.

Takashi must have realized he said something wrong, whether it was because the room became suddenly deadly silent. Or it was because that weird guy with the ponytail was staring at him with the most unfriendly eyes he had ever seen… yep, he had said something he shouldn't.

Suddenly he remembered he had a bleeding ear to stanch and decided that it was a good time to try to make his way out. Being in a room with cold-blooded killers for too long was never a good option anyway.

"You guys, I need to take care of my ear…Kisame, good to see ya pal!"

Takashi began standing up but he was brutally forced to kneel down on the floor again by a muscled blue-toned arm.

"You're not going anywhere." Kisame's grin widened maliciously, and at that point Takashi knew he was the one who was in 'deep shit'.

"Wha-what's w-wrong?"

Kisame lowered his body to lean over the guy's face.

"What's wrong is that you tried to rape Itachi-san's little bro."

Takashi's eyes widened in fear, and when he again met Itachi's angry glare, as he clumsily crawled behind Kisame. With a hand still pressed against his wounded ear, he acted as if Kisame's back would grant him some kind of protection.

"Oh God I-I'm sorry, I didn't know! I assure you nothing happened!"

Itachi glared back at Sasuke, who was still standing in the same frightened position. Confused by the whole situation, Sasuke did not really know how to react.

"Did he hurt you?"

Sasuke looked at his brother, and then he looked back at the man he'd just tore a piece of his ear off with his teeth.

"No." He bluntly answered, still bemused, and he felt the unpleasant taste of the guy's blood drying in his mouth. Though it was still a good thing he had been born with sharp canines.

"You must forgive me! I thought he was one of your targets! Every time Kisame-san calls me asking about people is always for killing! I just thought….I…"

Itachi glared at Kisame and the muscled man shrugged, obviously amused with the whole misunderstanding:

"Hey, sorry if I didn't _specify_ that Sasuke wasn't a target to kill. But I didn't think this idiot would actually try to do something like this."

"Please don't kill me!" Takashi was desperate now, he started clinging to Kisame's leg. "I have a wife and two kids!"

"Everybody has a wife and two kids in these situations." Kisame joked, and kicked the man's body off his leg. "Don't touch me; you're staining my clothes with blood."

"I don't have an ear! He ripped my ear off! It hurts so much, I need a doctor!"

Sopped in tears, the bleeding man tried to appeal to the killer's sympathy again by voicing his pain. But Kisame wasn't touched:

"_Che_, it was only the earlobe."

"Kisame." Itachi ordered, interrupting those two.

One look at Itachi's icy glare and it was enough for Kisame to know what he wanted.

"Right. I'll make sure Van Gogh here swallows a body part as an apology." Kisame smirked. "Or two." He added.

Itachi nodded. "Good."

Kisame grabbed Takashi by his arm, dragged him out of the room, ignoring his convulsing yelling, and cries for forgiveness. Just before disappearing into the hallway, Itachi called him again:

"Kisame."

"Yes?"

"Bring me some ointment, a roller gaze, a pair of scissors, and ice."

* * *

The room was quite small, with a decoration that had been delegated to the taste of the color-blind, Itachi presumed. The salmon colored walls didn't match with the chocolate brown wooden floor, and certainly the orange color of the bedspread was added just to annoy the eye.

The color show was compensated with the lack of furniture, only the bed, and a dresser with a TV above. There was a small bathroom on the opposite wall of the room; with the door, half opened revealing the dirty -white linoleum and the rust stained washstand.

They stood there for 5 minutes, only gazing at each other.

Itachi had given up of trying to reach Sasuke. Whenever he approached closer, the boy just stepped back, maintaining the 'safe distance' between them. Sasuke was standing near the bathroom now; Itachi managed to come five feet before him and remained there. He wouldn't dare to approach more for now.

Sasuke was angry, Itachi could tell. Angry, confused, maybe a bit tired, and…

His stomach growled loudly.

"Are you hungry?"

Sasuke didn't reply to him, though kept staring. Itachi pulled out his cell and made a brief call to Kisame, instructing him to bring some food from the sushi restaurant he saw on the other side of the street, in front of the hotel.

He hung up, and gazed back at his little brother. He hadn't move one inch from his defensive position. His eyes looked so black and swollen, surmounted by knitted eyebrows.

"Sasuke…"

"Stay there!" He hissed, and Itachi halted.

The silence in the room was becoming unbearable. Itachi was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

He could_ feel_ Sasuke's hate. Fear. Disgust. Appalled sensations oozing out of those black eyes, making himself feel uncomfortable, making his skin itch.

"I'm sorry."

_(-but he knew it wouldn't be enough.)_

"Why…?" Sasuke's voice was fragile and fragmented but perfectly perceivable.

The room was too silent. Itachi thought that, if for a moment he looked away, Sasuke would disappear.

"I lost control. I didn't mean to…" His voice faded.

He didn't want to say it.

"To what?"

Itachi was hating it. Hated being there, not knowing what to do.

Hating the feeling of being hated by Sasuke. His skin itched even more.

"I'm sorry." He repeated. He would repeat it repeatedly if he had to. What else could he do?

"No matter how many times you say you're sorry, it won't make up for what you did!"

The guilty one lowered his eyes, breathing a sigh. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Stop fuckin' saying that!"

Sasuke's eyes were like spheres of hot volcanic glass. Never had Itachi seen his brother with eyes so… so…

-what was the word?- _(vituperative)_ Those eyes were much more offensive in many ways and Itachi didn't like it. It was like he's being judged by his little brother. He could see in his eyes, behind that fury and fear, he could see _disappointment_.

_(He never wanted to be the big brother, but now he regretted he ever was.)_

* * *

"How did you know my arm was broken?" Sasuke asked, after a while of silence.

They were both inside the bathroom, sitting on the cold floor in front of each other.

"It's not broken." Itachi said, wrapping humid towels around his swollen arm. "The bone is just dislocated. This is just to stabilize the arm, we still need to take you to the hospital."

Sasuke watched Itachi's skillful hands work on his arm, and then he eyed Itachi suspiciously.

"It just took one look at you." Itachi answered his inquiring gaze. "You weren't moving the arm as you would normally."

Kisame had brought the requested items a while back, but it took nearly 15 minutes for Itachi to convince Sasuke to let him treat him. Sasuke's fear seemed to rise when Kisame entered the room – the guy wasn't born with a gracious expression – and so Itachi ordered Kisame to wait outside the room. He even suggested that the shark man 'entertain' himself with Takashi while the family issue was resolved.

After Kisame left, Itachi tried to convince Sasuke to let him put some ointment in his anus. He was worried that the superficial injuries he certainly caused with…you know, what happened, could become infected. Sasuke kept shouting that there was no way he would let his brother touch him there again, and at last they both agreed that Sasuke was capable of putting the ointment there himself.

The boy snatched the ointment out of Itachi's hands roughly, and before he closed the bathroom door he made his brother swear that he wouldn't try to open it to 'peek' (the door didn't have a lock). He still took about 10 minutes just to spread the ointment in his ass, making Itachi worryingly open the door 'just-to-check-if-everything-was-ok', which led to another session of shouts and screaming.

To make it worse, Kisame entered the room 'just-to-warn-that-they-had-a-meeting-with-Madara-soon', causing Itachi to have an unprecedented violent reaction by throwing the scissors, aiming at the shark-man's face, and yelling 'get-the-fuck-out'.

This made Sasuke even more suspicious towards his brother's 'peaceful' intentions.

So it took another while to cool the nervousness hovering inside the room. It was only when Itachi handed Sasuke the sushi, that the boy calmed down and concentrated on eating it and quietly, hungry as he was.

Yet, the chaos rose again when Itachi tried to grab Sasuke to treat his arm, the boy panicked and tried to hide in the bathroom. His stomach reacted with his fear and he ended up vomiting all the sushi on the toilet. Itachi kneeled beside him and held his forehead, waiting for him to finish expelling the contents of his stomach.

Maybe he should buy rice balls instead, once they're out of the hotel.

Shaken and weaker than ever, Sasuke barely felt his brother wiping the bits of vomit off of his mouth, and all that man's dried blood left on his chin. Itachi then took the opportunity to sit beside him, placing the several items of treatment on his right side and grabbing Sasuke's sore arm to place some ice first.

Sasuke didn't try to get rid of his brother's gentle hands, but still maintained a safe distance from him, by spacing the gap between their seated bodies as far as he could.

As Itachi wrapped his arm in wet rigid towels, Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about the things that Takashi guy said.

"_You know that fire that was on the news two months ago? You know all those rich stuck-ups that were burnt to death?"_

Actually, he was thinking about it the moment Itachi and his shark-face friend entered the room, though with all the hysteria it wasn't possible for him to take the time to reflect on it.

Takashi was talking about them, his brother and his friend. That was _obvious_. It was also obvious, that there was a connection between his brother and his friend's work activities.

There weren't any other fires on the news with "rich stuck-ups" within the past two months.

Of course, it could all be just a misunderstanding. It may have been Takashi's imagination.

Or not. After what Itachi did to him, nothing about his brother seemed unbelievable anymore.

"Done."

Itachi interrupted his thoughts, and placed a band made of gaze around his neck to support the arm.

The arm was very rigid, all wrapped in towels and gaze, he could barely move it. Itachi saw his attempts and warned him:

"Try not to move it too much before we get to the hospital."

"Did you kill them…?"

That trembling question took Itachi by surprise. He eyed Sasuke without saying a word, and instead of granting an answer, he concentrated on putting the items back in the sack.

He didn't know what to answer.

"Did you?" Sasuke repeated the question, this time louder. He felt his heart beating faster.

"Get up Sasuke." He decided, it was best to ignore the question for now. He stood up and reached an arm to his brother. "We need to go to the hospit-"

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" The boy shouted, violently interrupting him and shoved his brother's arm away.

"You have to-"

"I don't have to do anything with you, you fucking rapist!" Still seated, he tried to kick his brother's legs, forcing him to step back. "And why don't you answer me? Did you kill them? Did you?"

Sasuke's furious eyes were back again. Itachi might say that, he was almost crying.

"Answer me Itachi!"

That was it. He wanted to _know_. Sasuke was refusing to come back with him if he didn't answer, though he would still refuse to come back with him if he answered him.

It came into Itachi's mind that he should just force Sasuke to come back home; however, the kid was skittish enough to try to run away again. Obviously Sasuke didn't buy his words when he promised he wouldn't touch him again. To tell the truth, Itachi even doubted his own words. Though, at least he was sure he would never repeat the same mistake again, even if he had to put some ice in his crotch once in a while.

He had to find a way to convince him. He had to give him a reason to stay with him.

(Indeed it didn't even flash in the mind of the Prodigy why he was so concerned in keeping his little brother under the same roof. Nevertheless it was the fear of separation from his brother that ultimately motivated him to switch his comfortable life under Fugaku's wing for the stressful and criminal life of being Madara's lapdog.

Wouldn't it be stupid to ruin that now?)

He just needed to give Sasuke what he wanted and at the same time make sure he wouldn't run away from him again.

Even if it could involve fatal consequences.

"Yes." Itachi finally answered. "I killed them."

"What…?"

Itachi closed the space between them, his lips almost touching Sasuke's.

"Isn't that what you wanted to hear? I killed them, Sasuke."

Sasuke was fixed on Itachi's gaze, trying to decipher the meaning of his words on the façade of his soul –if there was a meaning/soul. He was feeling it again, the vortex of old and new emotions being detonated, the headache was coming back.

He could almost taste Itachi's sugared breath.

"The police won't do anything; they won't dare to investigate me." Itachi continued. His voice was cold and bitter, contrasting with his warm sweet breath. "What about you, my brother? Are you going to do something about it?"

He didn't smirk nor did he frown, or grimace. He kept saying all those words with raw plainness.

"Wh-what do you mean…?" If Confusion was a person, that would be Sasuke.

"Come back with me, _otouto_. I'll give you money. An allowance. You can do whatever you what with that allowance." Itachi approached his hear and murmured, with a softer voice: "You can hire a detective with that allowance."

Then Itachi rose up to his feet, and reached his arm to help Sasuke stand up.

"As long as you're with me."

.

.


	13. Chapter 13

Note: This chapter only was kindly edited by **Kyarei**. Thank you :D

* * *

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Chapter 13: He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves

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The wind-chimes of a nearby café echoed through the neighbourhood as he stepped out of the cab. He checked the address twice, eyeing the massive brick buildings ahead suspiciously. Sighing, he closed the door behind him loudly, throwing an annoyed look at the driver.

There should be about six towers with bare façades eaten by time. Colorless cloths hung from the windows, some of them broken, some of them open. A few kids stopped their improvised soccer game to glue their eyes on his figure, and he then decided to move forward as he was displeased by the attention.

When that stranger gave him that card, Sasuke had never thought it would lead him to a gypsy neighbourhood.

Such an _un_clean place. The green of the trees had turned a muddy tone of earth, keeping the sun behind their leaves. The concrete sidewalk was uneven and there were tins and cardboard boxes lying off the trashcans that stank of putrid food.

He turned his nose up, frowning at the sight and walked towards the building numbered 77, where the wind-chimes danced and the faint scent of late-afternoon freshly baked pastry watered his mouth unwillingly.

Itachi was right about the police.

When Sasuke went to the police station reporting about his brother's confessions, he was sure to expect all kinds of reactions but laughing, _at his face_.

A crinkly-eyed policeman walked him to his desk, where he instructed him to sit on a blood-stained chair (if that wasn't blood then Sasuke didn't know what the hell that was) and made him wait like 15 minutes while he pretended to check something on the computer.

"Uchiha Itachi… Your brother graduated high school at the age of 15, right?" After Sasuke had waited an uncomfortable while, the policeman decided to start the conversion with a _smirk_. Great. His eyelids narrowed firmly with the devious smile, concealing his tiny eyes inside that porous greasy cranial structure. "How old are you, 14? And you're still in junior high?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You're not a prodigy. You're just an average student, aren't you? Your father must've been disappointed."

It's amazing what the police can do these days. They reached a state of evolution that they could draw common sense conclusions on their own without having to consult their boss.

"Do I have to have special skills to report a crime?"

Crinkly Eyes undid his smile, not appreciating the sarcasm.

"Your brother is the heir of your father's company. That must've irked you, right?"

By then Sasuke realized where it was going: jealousy. They thought he was making blind accusations _just because._

It's not that Sasuke didn't foresee that scenario, though where else to report a crime but the police station? Sometimes he wished life was like those TV criminal series, where the police are _interested_ in catching the bad guy.

The problem with the Japanese's law enforcement system is that they are too fucking concerned about manners than doing their job. They were all too afraid of investigating rich families even when the criminal was among them – it might seem _rude_. And because they wanted to look good in front of the judge, only when they had a lot of evidences and were 99% sure was the case taken to courthouse. Naturally, 99% of the cases taken to court resulted in conviction and the police were praised again for their _wonderful job_.

No wonder Japan had so few lawyers.

"Is there anything else you want to charge your brother of?" The policeman asked.

That was definitely sarcasm!

Sasuke gritted his teeth and retorted: "As a matter of fact yes! I…" But his voice died before he finished the sentence.

No.

He was not going to accuse his brother of rape. Even though he had evidences for that.

"You were saying…?"

It would be too shameful. Just imagining the reporters all over it, his friends knowing about it… what would they think? That he let his brother _have sex_ with him?

They'd probably think he liked it. And at that moment, Sasuke wasn't exactly sure if he was more afraid of being called _faggot_ in school, or admitting to himself that it all happened because of him.

And even if it put his brother in jail, what's the point of having him convicted for only 2 or 3 years and then walking out free? (1)

He wanted Itachi to pay for what he did. Sasuke wasn't _weak. _His brother made him weak that night, but Sasuke will regain his power. And by the time he does, he will be waving to Itachi, the _weak_ one behind the prison bars.

Sasuke wanted the death penalty.

* * *

Since he left the police station, he went to see four detectives and all of them 'politely' suggested to him to stop watching too much TV. Two of them actually laughed. Like the policemen. Too bad Sasuke didn't get the joke.

When Sasuke insisted, they –'politely' again- said they would do their work regardless of Itachi's status, _if _Sasuke could pay them, of course.

They were expensive as hell. Detectives do seem cheaper in TV.

He kicked an empty can, letting out a deep sigh. The wind responded with furious blows and the can flew back to hit his leg, like he was stepping into his own metaphor. In the rear, the sun was timidly dying the sky in yellow-orange to prepare its rest.

Out of nowhere, a stranger approached him in an unexpected anxiety, like she was waiting for him to come out.

"This person can help you."

She had to be about 30 years old. Maybe 35. Or 25, depending on the perspective.

She was handing him something that looked like a business card, so crumpled and yellowed it looked like an entire epoch passed over it. Grabbing it suspiciously, he glanced at the piece of paper. It was a business card from some private detective.

"Who are you?"

She shrugged and let out a childish giggle. "A ghost."

He could see her dark olive eyes beneath the entanglement of brown hair dancing over her face. She turned on her heels and hastily walked away, disappearing behind the cornerstone.

Startled, Sasuke tried to follow her but when he turned on the corner she wasn't there.

* * *

It's not that Sasuke was a person that would adventure himself into an unknown address every time a stranger gave him a business card. It was true that that woman could merely be a fugitive from a mental institute, and by some humorless Kafkanian coincidence she happened to cross his path and give him the address of something he was looking for. Even though the card looked too old to be valid, and the owner of its name might as well have died last year having been 101 years old, Sasuke decided to investigate it.

It just took five minutes and the help of our best friend Google to know that not only was the detective surprisingly young with only 27 celebrated birthdays, he apparently had solved two big crime cases – big enough to deserve space on the foreign pages of CNN. One of them was about a boy who killed his parents with monoxide dioxide and made it look like a stove malfunction accident.

That woman gave him the jackpot.

Suddenly feeling strangely excited he left the cyber-café and ran for an empty cab, showing the address of the card to the driver.

(He still hadn't gone home since he left the hospital.)

* * *

Hatake Kakashi's office was too small for someone who had been praised by his professional skills. Walls dressed with shelves filled with books up to the ceiling, boxes on the floor next to a vase supporting a dying plant; the desk, placed in the middle of the room, was occupied with piles of papers and a XVI century computer.

A gray-haired man with an athletic figure was relaxed against a chair behind the desk, too busy reading a book to recognize Sasuke's presence in the room. For a minute at least.

"Are you lost, kid?"

Sasuke was still observing the unbelievably –vulgar- office when the man interrupted his thoughts. Hatake Kakashi was supposed to be a praised detective with a good reputation, why the hell was he living in a _gypsy _neighborhood?

"I'm looking for Hatake Kakashi." Sasuke spoke. Maybe he got the address wrong.

The man interrupted his reading to fix his gaze on Sasuke.

"What happened to your arm?"

Sasuke looked at his plastered arm, then looked back at the strange figure. He studied the man's face again, just in case he was imagining things.

"What happened to your face?"

The man had a big vertical scar crossing over his left eye, with thick stitches that only contributed to sort of a grotesque appearance. Kinda unfortunate really, he had a fairly attractive face.

"A cat attacked me." The man replied quickly. "What's your story?"

"A dog attacked me." Sasuke snorted. Somehow, he wasn't liking the guy already.

The man chuckled and closed his book, placing it on the desk. Or better speaking, on a massive pile of papers scattered all over the desk. 'Disorganization' was a euphemism here.

"Don't you just love animals?"

"Are you Hatake Kakashi?" He inquired again, peevishly.

"That depends." He rolled on his chair and stretched his arm to open the window behind him, too lazy to stand up. After that little exercise he pulled out a cigarette from something under the pile of papers – a pack maybe; in fact, it could be there was a body lying under that heap of papers and Sasuke would never know. "If the finance department employs minors now for surveillance, then my name is Maito Gai."

"I want to hire a detective." Sasuke said in contempt, manifesting his clear stance before that idiot's jokes.

"Why?" The idiot lit his cigarette.

"My brother killed my family and I need evidences to prove it."

A pause. An eyebrow was lifted. "Your brother?"

"Uchiha Itachi."

Kakashi stared at the young Uchiha for a mute while, expiring streams of smoke that immediately wrapped around Sasuke's face, making him cough a bit. The man clumsily tried to shake the smoke away, obviously in vain.

"How do you know your brother killed your family?"

Sasuke pondered for a moment if he should tell him the truth. It would sound weird if he told him that his brother confessed to him, and then the idiot would probably want to know the _circumstances _that made Itachi say that. If there was information that Sasuke wasn't willing to share it was those circumstances.

"I just know."

"Really? How?"

Sasuke shrugged. "The same way I know that you didn't get that scar on your eye from a cat."

Kakashi chuckled and decided to adopt what is internationally recognized as the 'private detective posture': leaned against the chair that was glued to his ass, then rose his legs to place his worn-out shoes on the desk –slowly, one foot at time, to make it look like you're even cooler than you really are.

"I admit, it wasn't just a cat. It was a lion." He paused, for unknown reason, as if he was making a discovery of his own life just now. "You know how the zoo is, we try to pet them on the head and they become all frenzied. I wonder what they feed them in there."

Kakashi didn't look like a professional. He really, really looked like an idiot. That was the only thing Sasuke could conclude so far.

Why did that woman give him his card?

"There are no straight lines in nature." The boy said with an intended deep sigh. "A perfect scar like that could only be made by a human hand."

"Human hand?"

"I'm guessing a home-made surgery." This time, Sasuke smirked. He loved showing off his knowledge, especially to snooty adults with lousy senses of humor. "Had it been an animal it would have a characteristic curvature and depth irregularities. It can be used to identify the species." Then he shrugged. "My brother said." He didn't know why he added that, but at least Itachi was a reliable bibliographical proof to avoid counter-arguments like 'where-did-you-read-that'. You can't argue against prodigies.

"Ain't your brother smart?" Kakashi smiled. Snooty smile. "What else did he say?"

"He said that good liars make good lawyers and bad detectives. Since you're a bad liar, I hope it isn't a stretch to assume you're a good detective."

Sasuke's mouth curved slightly in a pert smirk when he saw that his comment erased Kakashi's cocky smile. The man removed his feet from the desk and put out his cigarette on an ash tray which miraculously appeared in the middle of the papers, loaded with cigarette-butts.

"Who is it that you want me to investigate?"

"My brother."

"Right. I _almost _forgot."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and gave him is ultimate glare in response.

Kakashi, looking unaffected as ever, adjusted himself on his seat and leaned forward, crumpling papers with his elbows to support his chin on his crossed hands.

"In all my work experience, I know one thing for sure." He stated, gazing at Sasuke with an uncomfortably serious expression "Good liars and bad liars make terribly bad clients. And I don't want to waste my time with a bad client."

He lit another cigarette and reclined back against his chair. Tobacco smoke met Sasuke's face again, and he reacted with coughing again. For a while he wondered if hiring a detective meant having to spend a lot of time in his office, because Kakashi, with that propensity to compulsive smoking and tendency to laziness, it wouldn't be surprising that Sasuke developed lung cancer before Itachi was arrested.

As long as Kakashi didn't die first.

"Please…" Sasuke bowed his head, feeling humiliated for actually having to beg for the services of an idiot like him. "Everyone else is afraid of my brother." He mumbled.

He didn't have a choice. Everyone else laughed at him when he said he wanted to prove golden boy Itachi set off a fire that caused the death of more than twenty people.

And that woman… now thinking about it, she wasn't that strange to him. He must have seen her somewhere. Her face wasn't all that unfamiliar.

"Listen,"

Kakashi leaned forward, spreading some papers on the desk with his arm. Some others were thrown to the floor. His cigarette was _this close_ to touching one of the papers. If Sasuke wasn't that desperate, he would re-think about hiring a detective for investigating a planned fire when he could even have caused an accidental fire in the room right there.

"Your brother can be the Prime Minister of Japan for all I care. If you lie to me, then it's over. And no refunds." He pushed another nicotine breath before he proceeded. "So, wanna tell me what happened to your arm?"

* * *

Madara liked dark places, and as his influence on the international stock market rose, the darker he preferred. This would be a very lame comparison if it wasn't simply the true. Just last week he became fond of meetings by the light of candles. This week there were fewer candles.

Of all the darkness that surrounded Madara's life, metaphorically speaking or not, the man just didn't like to play in the dark. So whenever they played chess, the bulb above had more than 30 watts.

"Itachi… do you remember what you answered when I asked you if you could kill your whole family?" Madara casually asked as he moved the knight.

A deep, bored sigh was heard from across the room, where Kisame had been standing for over two hours. Occasionally he would shake his legs to stimulate blood circulation, or to avoid boring himself out. Even though a former bodyguard, Kisame wasn't used to standing quietly.

"Yes. I said I could for the right motive." The Uchiha answered with a bishop attack.

Itachi didn't know why Madara was forcing his partner to watch their 'boring' chess game. When Madara called them both at the same time, they thought they were going to get a reprimand for arriving late at the last meeting. Instead, Madara invited Itachi to a game of chess with a pacific smile, and ordered Kisame to wait in the corner.

Oh and no, Kisame, you can't sit down.

"Yes, that's right… the right motive. You still had a childish body but you already thought like an adult." Madara removed a cigar from the Cuban box, his usual pleasure. Itachi noticed he had a new Rolex on his wrist.

Madara was the epitome of the International contemporary rich man. Sheer product of globalization; he only smoked Cuban cigars and liked to dress in Italian designed suits with English bottoms, adorned with a Swiss watch. He always drank French wine and his favorite spice was cardamom. He had at least an American, a Japanese and a German car, and an apartment in Dubai. To his guests, he always offered Scotch whisky and Chinese jokes.

Itachi never really understood man's fascination to catalogue their consumer goods for their country. Madara taught him what each country produced the best, but truth speaking, his palate didn't share the opinion that French wines were better than Italian. And frankly, what's the great difference between Columbian coffee and Peruvian coffee?

_(What's the difference between 'fucking' and 'making love'?)_

Subtle differences escape through logic.

"Your answers were always straight and terribly honest." Madara continued the game after two pleasuring blows on his cigar. "A couple years later, I asked you if you found the right motive. Do you remember?"

"Yes." The younger answered. Of course he remembered. "When Fugaku signed a deal to build another factory in Tiajin."

"That's right. One week after that documentary that shocked Japan about thousands of cancer-related deaths in Tiajin villages, Fugaku manages to build another factory. In the same place." He chuckled, and adjusted his position on the sofa, burying his ass further in the leather. "It was like he was mocking God! Aah, I got to tell you, I was rather impressed when I found out that everyone in the family supported his decision. But really, can we blame them? One more factory in Tiajin meant more money and prestige to the family. While Chinese children were dying of cancer and arsenic intoxication, Uchiha children were being spoiled with more expensive toys and clothes." He took a pause to suck on his bundle of Cuban leaves. "Back then, you said to me: 'the adults are the one to blame. Children know nothing.' Then I suggested you: why don't you ask them what they think?"

Kisame made another noisy sigh.

"And you did. You asked the youngest member of your family, your 10 year old cousin Makoto. You calmly explained him that the money for his parents to build a giant pool in the house came from the construction of a fabric that killed a lot of children like him in China. You asked him if he was willing to give up of his rich life to save the children. You remember what he answered?"

He vigorously stood up with a strange excited smile and walked towards the marble gargoyles-flanked fireplace, to put out his cigar on the diamond-carved ashtray offered by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He liked that exquisite ashtray, made for display only. He liked even more making use of its usefulness, even though the ashtray was supposed to be merely decorative.

Putting ashes on diamonds.

"He said his friends were going to make fun of him." Itachi replied, a wrinkle in his forehead anticipated the uneasiness forming in the pitch of his stomach.

Years of knowing Madara made him capable of foreseeing the man's intentions on the conversation, before it even started. And something told him, it was about to take a way that would lead to Sasuke.

It was his fault, Itachi knew that.

"Children are born evil. We are born evil." Madara laughed, playfully spinning the ashtray. He may have considered for a second to turn on the fireplace, but rapidly dismissed the idea of bringing more light and heat to the room than the minimum necessary.

Sasuke should have found a detective by now. Itachi hoped he did.

He wondered how long would the detective take to reunite enough evidences against him? Selfishly, he hoped the guy worked slowly. He hoped he had time to fix things before it was too late. He hoped he had time to…

He hoped Sasuke had eaten something by now.

_(Now, concentrate in the game and pretend that you have nothing to worry about. Like you always do.)_

The white knight moved in.

"We only become good when we grow up and gain a conscience." Madara continued his speech, proud to listen to his own words. "A conscience, made of social morals invented by men's fears, becomes our only way for our communities to survive and avoid us killing each other. If you fail to gain a conscience, you become a sociopath, an abnormality. Society condemns _abnormalities_."

Barefacedly smirking, almost like the Joker from a card deck designed by Lord Byron, he walked away from the exuberant fireplace and sat in front of Itachi again, gazing at the chess board with an irritating shine in his eyes.

At least, Itachi was beginning to feel irritated. Madara took long roads to get to the point. The man loved hearing himself talk.

Taking his time, Madara removed the tower from its initial position to capture one of the white pawns. The golden ring of his right little finger, ostentating a polished dark ruby in the middle, deviously glittered against the artificial gleam of the bulb. It was offered by Han Seung-soo (2) himself, and Madara never took it off.

(His little finger was much more powerful now than one month ago. His fucking little finger. It was becoming rather… disturbing.)

"I always wondered Itachi… is an abnormality able to 'care' for some Chinese children?" It was a rhetorical question. Madara continued: "Must you be another victim of the fundamental law of human relationships? _Les hommes, fripons en détails, sont en gros de très honnêtes gens: ils aiment la morale."_ (3)

"Montesquieu." Itachi murmured, gazing at his chess pieces with a frown.

"Montesquieu's views on peace… I honestly thought that they were the only thing that could turn you on." He chuckled, as if he had just said a private joke, but Itachi ignored him. He chose to move with his tower, mimicking his partner's moves. He almost lost his concentration and interest in the game.

His mind was now more occupied with other thoughts, trying to figure out what was Madara's goal with that conversation before Madara reached to his goal. Just in case he needed to prepare a good answer.

"But then I thought," Madara picked his knight and tossed Itachi's tower away. The ivory piece rolled over the glassy table sonorously, stopping just before the edge. "maybe it wasn't Montesquieu. Maybe it wasn't the new factories in China. Maybe it wasn't the _right motive_."

He stood up again and sauntered along the sofa, crossing the room to reach the XIX century Western cabinet. Placed near one of the four big windows that mangled the walls of the living room, the silverfish moonlight did a fantastic job in bouncing the adorning richness of the serpentine golden motif that stylized the ebony doors. When opened, it reveals a splendid set of tortoiseshell drawers, one of which Madara opened to retrieve an item.

Unlike most house decorators, Madara knew how to pick historical furniture and place it in a technological penthouse without looking ridiculous.

The older Uchiha returned to his leather seat, holding a piece of paper slightly enrolled in the edges. From the ignored corner of the room, Kisame sighed again.

"I found this document lost in Shin's house."

He handed it over to Itachi, who grabbed a yellowish thick sheet of paper, presenting a calligraphic handwriting in a foreign language. In the end, three signatures were detached: two of them were Japanese.

"I had someone translate it for me, since I don't know Arabic. But you do."

Itachi eyed his relative suspiciously, inwardly anticipating what he was going to say.

"You know what's written in that document, don't you? Signed by both Fugaku's brothers. Your uncles. They were planning a little betrayal on Fugaku and Orochimaru weren't they?"

Madara's smirk widened; the dim light above him shadowed against his face in devious forms. Itachi remained silent.

"In fact, Makoto's parents bought the pool with Abdul-Musawwir's (4) money in advance, not because of a new factory being built in China."

The bulb flickered.

"Of all the people in the world, who would've guessed that one of the sons of Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia had a fetish for Asian pretty boys?" Madara laughed a bit, though Itachi didn't find it funny.

The older Uchiha sighed, and leaned back against the leather, crossing his legs with an expression of contempt. "We men… different in religion, equal in sins."

Itachi narrowed his eyes, putting the document on the table. "Disappointed?"

Madara didn't like his comment. Violently he threw the chess pieces to the floor with one arm, and after the clashing sound of the ivory pieces against the hard wood perpetuating on the floor, he turned over the table. The stone-made chessboard hit the ground sonorously and the flipped table landed on top of it, the sound of glass being broken ripped though their ears immediately.

"You said you liked my ideas!" The angry man vociferated.

"I didn't say I'd kill for your ideas." Itachi tried to remain calm, even after he was almost hit by a table in the process.

"Oh, but you'd kill for your ill-bred little brother?"

"Wouldn't you?"

Madara glared at Itachi with a nasty grimace of discontentment. He looked 10 years older with that grimace. Not that it gave him wrinkles, no. He just looked _uglier_.

For the first time Itachi wondered how in the world he ever found his relative attractive. Sure Madara was once a very attractive man, when there were still some bits of humanity left in him.

"I killed for my brother, Itachi. And in the end, I killed him."

"I don't play like you, Madara."

"I know." He growled.

Dispassionately, Itachi eyed the ivory chess pieces on the ground, tangled with pieces of broken glass. "I assume the game is over for now." He stood up promptly, arranged his grey tie and announced his leaving. "Excuse me."

And without waiting for an answer, he walked out of the room and Madara's penthouse with the best uncaring air he could fake. He couldn't wait to get the hell out of there and make sure his worries about Sasuke were unfounded.

Kisame was still standing near the corner, watching his partner go without knowing what to do. When he thought it was a good time to follow him, Madara remembered to interrupt his attempts to escape.

"Kisame, approach please."

Kisame's inner-self recoiled after hearing his boss calling for him alone. With that state of humor that Itachi left him, he was sure Madara didn't call him to invite him for dinner.

Reluctantly, he advanced towards the older man and halted when he opened his mouth, standing near to the sofa where Itachi had been sitting before.

"How was the waiting?"

"Tiring, boss. Can I sit?" Kisame put a hand on the leather back, eager to relax the tensed muscles in his legs.

"No, Kisame, you can't." He smirked, obviously amused with Kisame's poor situation. No wonder that dude could piss Itachi off. "It's frustrating isn't it? You know it can be used as a torture technique. Often used in Guantanamo, it's impressive what he can learn with simple documentaries. Do you like documentaries, Kisame?"

Hell no. Itachi made himself a documentary already, when he _talked_. He wouldn't mind documentaries if it involved stripping men. Hmm, Itachi stripping…

"Kisame?" Madara cracked his finger.

"Oh, sorry. No, boss."

The Uchiha sighed, having second thoughts about Kisame's reliability for the zillionth time since he hired him. "Well, it's a shame. You could learn what happens to a man when we deny him the privilege of muscular relaxation by forcing him to stand still thirty-six hours straight."

Kisame cringed. It was bad enough trying to stand still for three hours while hearing two boring Uchihas talking about Monteskis-or-whatever.

"Answer me this quickly: sex without love or love without sex?" Madara asked.

Kisame eyed him with the most dumbfounded look he could pull out. What kind of documentaries was his boss watching anyway?

"Kisame?"

"Ugh, sex without love I guess…" He considered in adding 'Oprah' to the sentence, but then he thought it might not be a good idea.

But really, what a stupid question.

"Good answer." The boss smirked again.

Uff. So far Kisame was doing well. He thought.

"Why don't you give that advice to Itachi? You know he's trying to jump into is little brother's pants."

Kisame's small eyes popped out in complete astonishment.

"He is?"

Madara lifted an eyebrow. He didn't know?

"Either you are very dumb, or you're very good at bluffing." He said. "Knowing you, I'm betting for the first."

Sure Kisame had suspicions before but he never thought Itachi was… incestuous. He betted with Kakuzu once that Itachi had a secret sexual _–philia_, because the Uchiha was weird enough to have one. Kakuzu betted he had necrophilia and Kisame thought something softer, like pedophilia. True enough, Itachi didn't pick the youngest whore when Kisame brought him to the brothel, but the shark-like man just thought that Itachi just didn't want him to find out.

But incest… that's a good one.

Suddenly the angry kid, looking pale as hell, with a bloodied mouth in that single star hotel room came to his memory. Then Itachi asked him to leave them alone. Now it reminded him of that movie that Kakuzu lent to him, about a guy who was a zombie, and a vampire that liked to mutilate his victims and have sex with them. It was kinda gross, but the main actor was hot.

Oh yeah. Those brothers were naughty. He wondered if when the kid grows up and gains more muscles, they would let him watch them doing it.

"As I was saying…" Madara broke their silence with a grunt. Kisame used to daydream a lot, and he didn't like that. "You will be Itachi's friend. Is that okay?"

"Okay boss."

"And you will report everything to me. If I see you're hiding something…"

Kisame just stared at him, waiting for him to finish the sentence. When he noticed Madara wasn't going to finish the sentence, he then 'understood' what the boss had meant.

"Oh, sure boss. I'll report everything to you."

Madara sighed, _again_. "Good. You may go."

Manifestly relieved, Kisame turned around and hastily walked towards the elevator. He couldn't wait to sit down in his lovely Toyota and ride back home, just making a stop in his local sex shop to rent some incest movie…

Alone in his luxuriant tower, Madara stood up and walked around the turned down table, avoiding stepping over the shattered glass spread on the floor. His _-suddenly-_ loud steps led him to one of the eminent windows, eyeing outside the double glass the city lights dancing through the night. He was missing all the fun.

Itachi was making him miss all the fun. Leaving him alone all the time.

In a bad sense, Itachi reminded him more and more of Izuna. The years, the money, the effort he spent on Izuna's love, only to be all in vain was enough for a one-time depression. He was not going to make the same mistake with Itachi. He will not be alone again, even if he had to wait for a little longer – patience was his forte.

(Though technically, Madara was never alone.)

"I don't understand you _sensei_." A familiar figure emerged from the shadows next to him, silently as a cat.

"How long have you been there, Pein?" Madara growled, slapping away the other man's attempt to touch. He turned on his heels and tumultuously crossed the room to where the three-legged table supporting two bottles and two glasses were. He served himself a glass of red wine and drank it quickly in two gulps.

"A while." He heard his subordinate walking towards him, and even before he could serve the second glass a cunning hand slipped over his hip from behind and gathered around his belly, solicitously beginning to unbutton his shirt.

"Next time make some noise."

Madara swallowed the second glass, slowly feeling his muscles relaxing as the alcohol tickled down his gullet, and his subordinate's long fingers traveled across his abdomen, undoing more buttons along the way. He felt his face nuzzling through his hair, his breathing against his neck.

Pein liked to make him company a lot. Even when Madara had already another 'company'. Not that he minded. Pein was a good student after all.

"He fell in love." The sulky Uchiha put the glass back on the table, and reclined his head back against the body behind him, letting those skillful hands undo his tie after the shirt had been fully unbuttoned. "That stupid idiot."

He was used to discussing his problems with Pein. Initially it annoyed him having him roving over his penthouse –and his _bed_room- like he had ever invited him, but in time he become fond of having the orange-haired Korean around.

"Dressing Kisame in 'match-maker' was not a response I was expecting from you."

The shirt fell on the floor, as did the black tie.

"Itachi doesn't know about his feelings. He thinks it's only lust." Madara answered with a tired expression. He turned around to watch Pein starting to strip himself, but continued talking, as if he needed desperately to let out his mind in that instant. "As long as he believes in it, he will act accordingly. And one day, he will do something stupid. Or maybe he has already, I wouldn't be surprised."

He took a pause to watch his subordinate dispose of the last garment in silent satisfaction. Pein's body was like a curious piece of art, a balanced composition of round-shaped black piercings, rhythmic tattooed lines and toned muscles. He even pierced his genitalia, and it felt as good as it was visually stimulating.

Madara was still half-dressed. Pein kneeled down and proceeded in undoing his pants, as the older man continued with confidence.

"Itachi was raised to be a profitable machine, not to be a good husband. His mother never taught him about the calumnies our hearts can commit, and even less about the universal codes of human relationships. Kisame's heartbreaking advice will only guarantee to me this fruitless relationship he wants with his brother will meet a dead end soon."

"And if Sasuke decides to reciprocate?" Pein pulled his _sensei_'s boxers down, revealing a half-hardened manhood. He had started massaging it, preparing it for good use.

Madara expelled a loud chuckle. "A 14 year old brat? He's old enough to care about school grades and pimples, not about misconceptions of love!" He snorted. "Auch- be careful with that!"

Pein frowned a bit. Madara was really sensitive today. He eased his hand's work, pumping the erection slowly.

"Besides," Madara let out a moan in between "if I know that kid is falling for him, I _will _have him killed."

.

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* * *

(1) Sexual crimes in Japan are condemned with a very low sentence – minimal 2 years in jail and some hard labor. Murder convictions can get the death penalty (by hanging).

(2) Current prime-minister of South Korea.

(3) (French) Translation: "Men, roguish in detail, are basically veryhonest people: they love morality".

(4) This name is fictional.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain

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When Kakashi saw the yellowed card, he had made a funny expression, but Sasuke hadn't pay much attention to it. Now that he looked at the crumbled yellow card that that weird woman with the olive-green eyes gave to him, Sasuke remembered the 'funny expression'.

Also he was bored, because there was nothing much to do inside the empty safety of his bedroom. Kakashi had told Sasuke his prices and asked if Sasuke was living with his brother. Sasuke had said yes. Why he answered yes, he did not know.

"_If you find anything suspicious make sure to tell me everything."_

Naturally, Kakashi didn't consider the possibility that Sasuke was running away from home. Sasuke didn't tell him either – nor did he tell the true reason about the broken arm, He had insisted a 'brotherly argument' was the cause. Kakashi wasn't convinced, but didn't push. Some things are better left unsaid.

But it was right there at Kakashi's office that Sasuke understood that he had better chances of nailing his brother if he did some detective work inside the house, like Kakashi suggested He wasn't afraid of his brother, right? He could defend himself! Even if he had to sleep with a knife beneath the pillow.

(Besides, hadn't Itachi mentioned an allowance if he stayed home? He will be paying for his own sentence.)

So, he went back home.

* * *

Two months have passed.

Two months.

Nothing suspicious during those two months had happened.

As unbelievable it might seem or Sasuke, life was _boring _again.

Unless you count school break time, where he could experience a little action in his monotonous life; he finally broke up with Sakura, and realized that running away from Naruto, was worse than getting way from a squad of horny girls. Though Sakura was already expecting it – the breaking up thing (she was also too entertained with a voluntary job at…somewhere, whatever, to cry too much about it). As for Naruto, he was just a big pain in the ass. Really, if Naruto was a pathology, it would be hemorrhoids.

Imagine if that stupid idiot had figured out. If he knew what that 'something' was, that Itachi had did to him. Sasuke would never have another second of free time at school. Naruto would nag him every chance he got! Of course Naruto didn't have a clue of what Itachi did to him, he just had an idea that it was bad and involved biting – and biting was bad, too.

Thank God he had a stupid friend.

At home, things weren't anything special. That's the truth: nothing special had happened since he came back home.

Itachi decided to put an invisible barrier between them, because, obviously, he was feeling guilty. Sasuke wasn't that oblivious to not notice it. He cooked the meals, he talked short, he scolded Sasuke for leaving the tomatoes out to rot, but it always seemed he was too cautious with the 're-fraternization' thing, you know.

Not that Sasuke minded, of course. He didn't want to fraternize with a rapist murderer.

Itachi barely looked at him, too. If their eyes happened to meet, Itachi would immediately look away and focus his attention on the most meaningless thing in the room. Like a vessel out of center on the table, or the corner of the rug turned upside down. Then he would nod at whatever Sasuke was telling to him. A silent _"yes, I'll buy more next time"_, or _"yes, you can go to my room to look for whatever you're looking for",_ and he'd fix the object out of place like a compulsive perfectionist.

And now, they were watching this American movie-

Oh yes, Sasuke still thinks it's a bit crazy, but they both developed this awkward habit of watching a movie together, 9 pm after dinner. They would do it quietly though, with Sasuke sitting on the edge of the couch and Itachi on the other edge, until the end of the movie where Sasuke would stand up and abandon the living room, leaving Itachi behind to turn off the TV, the stereo and the lights.

It started few days after Sasuke returned home; tired of being locked in the room with nothing but thoughts to assault him. He decided to enter the living room and – thank God, Itachi was not using the TV or even nearby, He took the remote and started zapping through channels until he stopped on a movie channel, where was a samurai movie from the 80's with lousy actors playing in it.

Not too long after Sasuke made himself comfortable in his seat, Itachi decided to sit there too, on the other corner. Sasuke straightened up and promptly glared a _"don't you dare"_ to the wicked intruder. The wicked intruder coiled with a humble look and wordlessly made it clear that he was just there to watch the movie too. It's not that the idea to leave and flee to his room did not occur to him, but prideful determination, along with an odd interest in the movie changed his mind. Running away was never a Uchiha style anyway.

So Sasuke stayed. And they both watched the movie until the end.

There was a lot of tension during those two hours of film. Every time Itachi stirred in his seat, Sasuke would instantly look at his brother to make sure he wasn't trying any attempt to slide his way toward him. He repeated this behavior of distrust so many times during the first hour that Itachi eventually stood up, walked out of the living room just to reappear with a piece of chalk. He drew a white line, giving himself a third of couch, and sat back down to concentrate on the movie again, without uttering a word.

The second hour of the movie passed with much less stress, as Sasuke could see, from the corner of the eye, if Itachi was crossing over the white line or not.

Eventually, the sensitive tension that characterized the first half dozen of movie sessions gradually gave space to a slight silent empathy between them and pseudo-trust for Sasuke. The line of white chalk had faded away in time. None of them had noticed it either.

Itachi sometimes commented during the movies, and sometimes Sasuke chuckled and commented back. Some movies were just too stupid, they were _asked _to be commented on . Not that Sasuke forgot about the devious nature of his brother, but after one month of imposed silence and ill-humor you don't mind sharing some jokes with the Devil. After all, even with everything that had happened between them, and even when Sasuke was sure Itachi's fate was the rope around his neck, his brother was still the best companion to watch movies with. Itachi knew so many things that even now, it still amazed him.

Now, they were watching this American movie, both seemingly emerged in unspoken concentration and suddenly, Sasuke felt like Itachi was going to say something. He looked at his brother _almost _yearning for what he had to say and Itachi… just shut his mouth.

They watched the movie in complete silence, and for some reason, if felt _endless_.

Itachi's behavior changed a bit after that. He became more pensive, less talkative and more distant. Again.

Sasuke didn't like it, but that was inwardly. Outwardly, he didn't care. Because he was going to put that son of a bitch behind bars some time soon.

Outwardly he wasn't feeling a lot of other things either.

* * *

The older Uchiha's bedside table had its drawer opened; revealing the gift Kisame gave him not too long ago. He grabbed the plastic package, remembering again the words of advice his friend kindly shared with him,

"_Itachi-san, forgive me for saying this; I'm only going to saying this because I respect you at lot and all and I'm ok with your…er, family preferences._" He had smiled clumsily. "_So I'm gonna give you some advice."_

"_Advice?"_

"_Yeah. Itachi-san, you're fucking boring."_

That was, the first time in his life, that someone complained about his social skills.

But, it was Kisame after all.

"_I mean it. If you want to seduce your brother, you seriously need to talk less about those shits, man."_

"_What 'shits', Kisame?"_

"_You know. Shits you talk with boss, man. I mean, it's like talking another language. The 'defragtation' of human conscience? Who the fuck cares?_"

"_Defragmentation."_ Itachi corrected.

"_Yeah, whatever man! Get laid, I _beg_ you."_

Itachi had eyed his companion suspiciously, not really taking into consideration his words. It was Kisame, after all.

"_You know what's my advice?"_ Kisame said.

"_Advice?"_

"_Pleasure, man, pleasure. Give him a deep throating. He'll love it. You need to practice first though, or you can risk choking and, worst case scenario, bite 'little Sasuke' ne." _

Itachi didn't ask how Kisame knew about his fondness for his brother. After all it wouldn't be that surprising if Kisame found out on his own, since Itachi wasn't making any efforts to hide it lately.

The item inside the plastic bag was –naturally- a dildo of exaggerated measures, supposedly for him to practice Kisame's lessons.

Of course Itachi wasn't planning on giving two thoughts about the mere opinion of a guy who failed the third grade twice and didn't know the difference between a fetish and an isolated sexual interest (call it unchangeable fixation), but he also couldn't stop thinking about what he had said.

Was he sociologically considered to be… a _boring person_?

Sure Kisame just blurted that out to corroborate his under grown more-fucking-less-talking advice. Shisui didn't think he was boring; that guy was always inciting him to more political debates with him, and Mai, too. She once told him she could have an orgasm just by listening to him.

What about his schoolmates? Even his teachers…

Did Sasuke think he was boring?

Oh no, of course not. The reason why Sasuke wasn't talking to him was because Itachi maligned their relationship when he tried to rush with the sex part, that' all. That's why he was feeling so guilty.

Itachi intentionally hurt someone who did not deserve to be hurt, hence all the guilty feelings. Hence why he was making his best efforts to comply Sasuke's wishes and the need to restore their relationship as soon as possible, so his conscience could be at peace.

Troubled consciences cause insomnia and an unnecessary monthly expense in sleeping pills.

He needed to resolve his problem with his conscience and-

_(-and in the middle of this bundle of erratic thoughts [which at this time of the night began to meet the limit of incoherence] Itachi slowly fell asleep, without, like always, reaching to a practical conclusion whatsoever.)

* * *

_

_Clasp._

What's that sound?

_Vssh._

Itachi knew every sound of the house. That was not a sound of the house.

_Doomp._

A thump on the floor.

Too many sounds for the night. There was an intruder inside the house.

Blessed with cat-like hearing, Itachi jumped out of the bed and ran the thirty feet that separated his room from Sasuke's. Opening hastily the door he saw a figure disappear through the open window. He switched on the light and saw that Sasuke was still sleeping in his bed. He ran to the window and looked outside, but only a moonlighted desert view of the street greeted him.

Whoever he was, he managed to escape.

Sighing, he glanced at Sasuke, found his sleeping pose rather suspicious. Approaching, he examined the teenager more closely, noticing the white rag disposed near his head.

He picked the rag up and brought it to his nose, not taking too long to identify the smell.

_Chloroform_.

* * *

"No fucking way I'm going to sleep with you."

"You're not going to sleep with me. You're going to sleep in my bedroom for while."

Itachi had just locked his bedroom door, after instructing Sasuke to bring his clothes and any other items he would possibly need. He also instructed him to move into Itachi's bedroom, but Sasuke failed to comply with that one.

"Not when you're in the same room." He crossed his arms against his chest, assuming his ultimate position.

Over the past weeks, Sasuke has lost his fear of being near Itachi, as he noticed how obviously repented Itachi seemed to be. Itachi made so many efforts in pleasing Sasuke that is was almost pathetic. Of course that didn't excuse what he did, it just guaranteed to him that Itachi won't try anything like that again. Even when he recalled the rape scene, it never felt like it was his brother doing those things to him – and sometimes, Sasuke feared it was only his imagination – nevertheless, Itachi was still a traitorous rapist murderer son-of-a-bitch.

(And Sasuke shall be in the front line to watch his execution.)

"Whoever tried to kidnap you Sasuke, will try again. You know that."

* * *

"_C'mon Itachi, what was the word?"_

"_Sasuke, you heard your mother. Let's go to bed, shall we?"_

"_But… it's just one more word!"_

_Sighing, Itachi obeyed his wishes. "Vituperative."_

"_Hm…" Sasuke frowned his forehead, concentrating. He tried to recall in the rear of his memory the lost meaning of it, though it was a very difficult word. After one minute of silent hard thinking, he bowed his head embarrassed, and confessed: "I don't remember…"_

_Itachi smiled, and patted his head again. "It doesn't matter. You already know too many words, Sasuke. I'm very impressed."_

"_But it's the tenth word I failed…I really had memorized everything! I don't understand…"_

"_Sasuke," the older approached the younger's saddened face and looked into his eyes. "I don't even know what that word means. In fact, I think you know more words than me right now."_

_The little boy widened his eyes in utterly surprise. "Really?"_

"_Yes, _really_. And you also know a lot more words than father."_

"_You think?" _

"_I'm pretty sure."_

_Sasuke frowned in bewilderment. It didn't make sense the fact that he knew more words that his father and his brother. For him, they knew everything._

_Especially Itachi. His brother just knew everything. He was the best._

"_But… that means that I'm smarter than you and dad?"_

_Itachi gazed at him for a while, as if he was thinking about what he said. "Yes. You're smarter than us." He replied, smiling. "Now, shall we sleep?"_

"_Yes!"_

_Sasuke laughed, that bright smile giving birth to symphonic sounds, a pleasant rhythmic melody to the elder's ears._

_How Itachi loved that smile, that laugh, that perfect little angel's face of happiness, and it was only for him. Itachi noticed, Sasuke only smiled and laughed like that to him. It was one of the few things that made him feel important._

_The only thing that made him really enjoy life._

_Life was pathetic, the world of men was pathetic, their family was pathetic. But Sasuke wasn't pathetic._

_He was the smartest guy in the family.

* * *

_

He opened his eyes slowly, to be embraced by the darkness of the singing night and the red flashy light of the alarm clock.

3:32.

Waking up in the middle of the night for no apparent reason was not a usual factor in Itachi's habits, for he always enjoyed peaceful sleep. The house was awfully silent – as silent as the awaiting moment for the overture of a great sonata, even the mute sound of the ventilator could be considered noisy. The futon he was lying in however, put in his bedroom to let Sasuke sleep in his bed, was a bit too rocky for his liking.

He looked to his bed, as if he suddenly remembered that Sasuke was supposed to be present in that room. The image of the fidgety clothes of his bed was slowly nudging itself in the darkness, though soon enough Itachi perceived the cold absence of a body there, and fast he stood up from the futon, bedside lamp already lightened.

Out the bedroom he went, expectantly finding his little brother sleeping on the living room's couch, obstinately curled up to fit in between the framing arms. Sweat was trailing down his temples; his face was drawn in a troubled expression as his mind fought against the monsters of his subconscious. His hands were gripping angrily a thin blanket that he took out of the closet – he didn't even want the blankets of _Itachi's_ bed.

(_'He looks paler.')_

Sasuke was clearly stating that he would rather sleep on uncomfortable couch, with a thin cold blanket and a heavy nightmare than stay in Itachi's bed, warm against Itachi's bedclothes.

As if Itachi was a _pig_, or something. As if Itachi's bed was filthy and gross and unworthy.

(Sasuke even searched for another blanket.)

Itachi was a private person, and not even before the unconscious presence of Sasuke would he ever show his misery. So he walked around the couch to a corner of the living room and let himself extenuate the dire weight that was pressuring inside his head and squeezing his throat and blurring his vision.

_Anguish_. That was the word.

Anguish as the feeling among all the human feelings that allows the man to recover the shattered pieces of his soul, submerged in the monotony and indifference of the daily life, and elate himself from the betrayal committed to himself. Itachi knew now, that the philosopher doesn't invent feelings. That's the poet's job.

_(-it took him one minute and fifty nine seconds to completely dry the tears off of his face, but the salty taste remained-)_

Now here he was again, standing by the side of his shivering brother, contemplating the past that gave birth to the depressing present. He remembered his previous self, who breathed in ghastly apathy, shunning himself away from Sasuke's affections, thinking –_oh how could he ever_- that the emotion is the weakness of the mind. That Madara was a great mentor.

He remembered the scene that he caused in Sasuke's bedroom, after a drunken time in Madara's house. How foolishly he had thought, that killing the family and playing with his _otouto_'s body should be deemed as priorities for his apathetic future. Then Fugaku came into the bedroom and Itachi just stood there watching the beating, like a void semblance of a human being.

Oh, he wasso _pathetic_. Not Fugaku, not mankind, not God.

He was the pathetic one, because stood there and did nothing. He raped Sasuke, and he didn't even know why he felt so bad about it.

When you sink to the bottom, you desperately need to climb back up again.

Itachi was becoming desperate. He needed to atone for the terrible mistakes his ill-conscience caused on their lives.

_(-his ill-conscience, corrupted by the devil that dressed in Italian designed suits with English bottoms and drank French wines-) _

He needed to soothe the Anguish that caused Sasuke's nightmares, to soothe the day when he stole Sasuke's innocence, to-

_(-he desperately needed forgiveness.)_

So he picked up Sasuke's sleeping figure, to return to his bedroom and laid him on the futon, covering him with a much warmer blanket. Well, he was not going to force Sasuke sleep again on his bed if he didn't want to.

If Itachi's memories were made of apathy and recalled with sorrow, there were still those old little fragments of sweet nostalgia.

(Like those who fed his dreams. Maybe that was why he never had nightmares, unlike Sasuke).

He tried to remember the lyrics of the lullaby that Mikoto used to sing to little Sasuke, but how could his former listless self ever pay attention to such a thing?

So he hummed the melody (_at least_ remembered the melody) into Sasuke's ear, as he caressed his hair.

That lullaby used to chase his nightmares away.

* * *

The cool sunlight of winter hitting his eyelids forced him to wake up from the sweetest dream he had experienced in months, much to his dismay.

"Sleep well?" The warm voice of his brother made Sasuke turn his head, to see the beautiful smiling face of Itachi, already clothed, sitting on the futon we was lying in.

It was like the old days when everything was so different, and they were just brother and brother. If he was still dreaming, he didn't want to wake up.

"Hn-hm." Sasuke stretched his arms and yawned pleasantly.

"Do you think I'm boring?"

The question completely caught Sasuke in surprise. Itachi, _boring_? He was the only one Sasuke would have climbed the Fuji mount, if that meant enjoying his company for a couple more hours.

B.M. of course. Before the Murder.

He was the only one with whom Sasuke would mind to share an eternity with. Itachi's mind was like a foreign secret shop full of curiosities hidden in the shadow of exotic trees, and once you got to enter there, you knew it would take you an eternity to know all the items for sell.

(But that was all the past, the past that died along with his parents in that horrible fire. The Itachi he loved died with that past too. At least, that's what he wanted to believe.)

"Why are you asking me this? You know you're not boring. People love you."

What is this? That wasn't a dream. He wasn't living in the past. Why were they talking like this? Why was he in Itachi's bedroom again, sleeping in his futon, where his scent was spread throughout the sheets and made him feel things that he didn't want to feel again?

(That was, after all, why he left to sleep on the couch in the first place. Itachi's scent was driving his body crazy, making him sick, making him _horny. _)

"I'm asking what you think Sasuke."

It was like he woke up in a surreal movie frame where the past was born within the future again. Quentin Tarantino meets Salvador Dali and life is nothing but a psychopath's reverie.

"This is wrong." Sasuke had muttered, and immediately he raised his body to jump out of the bed, shoving the sheets and the blanket to the floor. "This is wrong!"

"What?" With doubt imprinted on his arched eyebrow, Itachi stood up, almost anticipating what was coming next.

"You!" He launched his index finger towards Itachi. "I can't… you're messing with my brain!"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't talk to you like this!" Sasuke was screaming, breathing heavily, and his hair was a mess, like he had just survived a tornado.

"Why not?"

"Because you need to be punished for what you did!"

Itachi sighed, saddened with the shattered moment. It was too brief, but those five minutes had been more precious than all the past months after the massacre. He even believed that Sasuke had already forgiven him and things could be back as they were before. How silly.

"Punish me, then."

Sasuke looked at him suspiciously "What?"

"Show me what I deserve. What's wrong Sasuke? I'm giving you a change to punish me."

Itachi had sat on his bed and calmly crossed his legs, like he had just made a rational and placatory proposal that would resolve their conflicts. Sasuke was drenched in bewilderment, not knowing how to react or even really what to say before Itachi's odd request.

"You think I'm stupid? You're stronger than me."

Not the smartest answer, but it's not like Itachi was being logical too.

However Itachi was serious in climbing out of the huge well that he built around them. He was desperate to breathe again. He was desperate to hear his_ otouto_ breathing again, smiling again like he always did in his dreams.

_(-he desperately needed forgiveness.)_

Even if it that meant he had to give his dignity to Sasuke on a silver plate – maybe not on a plate...but in silver handcuffs.

Opening the bedside table drawer, he removed the unused pair of handcuffs that Kisame had offered him as 'friendship gift' and tossed it on to the bed.

"The key is in the drawer. Just promise me you won't leave me handcuffed in the end."

.

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* * *

(1) 41ºF = 5ºC


	15. Chapter 15

**Warning: **Mild violence and sexual humiliation. Lemon.

**

* * *

**

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Chapter 15: If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time.

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It's not just an understatement to say that Itachi's proposal surprised him.

It completely screwed up his logic of retribution.

The justice in revenge lies on the impetuous unpredictability that the vindictive hand catches the deserving one. It's a slow, patient and painstaking process that dries you out, and only the strength of your hate can keep you sane enough to watch the rewarding end with a triumphant grin slashed on your face.

So when the deserving one decides to alter the sacred process of revenge and voluntarily asks for punishment – right away –what the fuck are you supposed to do? Asking to be punished is not the exact same thing as 'being served with a cold dish', and Sasuke's wrinkled forehead couldn't be more revealing of his ontological doubt.

"Are you fucking with me?"

Furthermore, Itachi asking for that kind of thing – what,_ forgiveness_? – was just out of character. Itachi was like an island that concealed its weak point beneath dazzling forests of exotic trees guarded by dangerous animals. He was not one to give a gun to the little brother he neglected so much and ask him to shoot the dangerous animals of his forest.

"No." Itachi answered, calmly.

It must be a game to him.

A private game that Itachi started inside his access-restricted mind and only he knew the rules. Maybe some twisted bondage-based philosophy that Itachi wanted to try, and he was using Sasuke's feelings for his personal fun.

Must be it.

Itachi was a sick bastard.

Must be it.

Well then.

Sasuke shall beat him in his little game. He will make Itachi regret giving that proposal.

He will make Itachi regret messing with his mind.

_(-messing with his feelings.)_

"Fine", Sasuke said.

He stepped forward.

"Handcuff yourself to the bed."

Itachi eyed him first, with his ever so enigmatic expression; he then slowly sat in the middle of his bed, and grabbed the silver object. He moved his arms backwards and slid his wrists through the bars of the bed frame.

"No. Lie down."

Sasuke caught a glimpse of the slight confusion that imbued Itachi's features, but it soon disappeared as Itachi obeyed him nonchalantly and assumed a horizontal position. The avenger was trying not to let his inward feelings come out. He was doing his best to keep up the cold stotic face that mimicked his brother's

But he was feeling in control.

The adrenaline was already pumping through his veins like dope to his thirsty being. An incredible sensation filled the void of a soul that had been numb these past months, as he watched Itachi handcuff himself to the bed, lying stomach up looking so vulnerable and defenseless.

He couldn't help smirk at the sight.

Itachi had no idea what was waiting for him.

Or maybe he did, _if_ he was that much of a prodigy. But – he asked for it.

Well then.

So be it.

Sasuke scrutinized Itachi's room quickly, until his eyes stumbled upon the kind of object he was looking for: an ornamental _wakizashi_ (1) exposed in a shield. His brother had always enjoyed collecting Japanese traditional swords, but all his other acquisitions were lost in the fire. That sword was certainly acquired recently.

He crawled onto the bed; legs trapping his brother's defenseless body, _wakizashi _gripped firmly. The blade, still sharp and polished by Ancestral hands, traced dangerous curves on Itachi's shirt.

Truth is, Sasuke didn't know what to do. He wanted to do _something_. He wanted to punish Itachi for everything, more than he deserved.

But he didn't know how.

The adrenaline pulsed inside chest and groin, but did not give him any answers.

He ripped the shirt with the blade.

"Perhaps a pair of scissors…?"

Expressionless, it looked like Itachi was mocking him.

"Shut up!"

Sasuke roared with an angry impulse, and the blade dug deeper than he had previously calculated.

Itachi flinched but no sound was uttered from his lips, as the red liquid smeared the bed clothesm Sasuke had turned white and stone for a while, watching the wound he opened on his brother's ribs. He was not understanding his own mind at this point, open more wounds or heal the one made immediately.

The decision plagued him.

It's the way Itachi looked at him. So…

"Don't look at me like that!" He slapped the expressionless face.

So…

Sasuke slapped him again. A red swelling was now Itachi's cheek.

So…

"Stop it!"

His fists met Itachi's bared chest, rage overpowering his logic; he slammed and slammed hard on the bony flesh. He felt like there was nothing else he could do to show the strength of his pain.

Itachi coughed, and let out a contained groan of pain, but that wasn't enough.

It wasn't working.

This wasn't working. He wasn't letting out his anger!

Itachi had yet to understand what he did was _wrong_. He had yet to know how sick he was in the mind, (so sick and filthy, filled of infectious bacteria that even contaminated Sasuke's own mind, with those perverted, immoral sick thoughts… )

He killed them for god's sake! He killed them all! He ripped away his apparent happiness, his illusion of normality! Sasuke wanted it back! He wanted his old house back, his older brother back – the perfect _nii-san_, unattainable yet ubiquitous. The Itachi that existed only to remind mankind of their human faults.

He was perfect.

This Itachi was…filthy.

_Human_.

He made him do dirty things.

He led him to think of dirty things.

He_ humiliated_ him and then he asked him to humiliate him back.

He was playing with his mind, because he never cared at all, and he was never the perfect aniki – that was an illusion.

This Itachi was real, and he was going to pay for it.

Sick bastard. He wanted humiliation? Well he'll get it!

Jolting out of bed, the angry teen scanned through the room speedily, looking for something he didn't know yet. Deciding to search inside the drawers, he ransacked the desk. The contents ending up on the floor, with him frustrated with the lack of ideas. He then decides to venture to the bedside table.

"What's this…" A certain object inside the drawer caught his attention, still set inside the plastic package, which was already opened on one of the sides.

"Sex toys, _brother_?"

Sasuke removed the large dildo from the package and held it, defiantly, to Itachi. His brother merely gave it a blank look, refusing to utter any sort of explanation.

"Who did you use this with, Itachi?"

Sasuke crawled back to the bed, placing himself over Itachi's hips again, glaring fiercely into his brother's eyes. "Some poor boy you raped too, you sick bastard?"

God, all that anger he almost lost, the hatred he feels for his brother lightened up again. It boiled inside his skull and smashed his heart against his lungs like a fast-consuming disease. Jealously swirled within the mist of his confused feelings. Ironically, he let himself imagine Itachi, who had been so frickin' caring towards him during the past weeks, sharing his animalist lust with _someone else_ – even though it was for the wrong reasons.

His heart was betraying his logic, but that wasn't a new thing to Sasuke. In fact, no matter how sick Itachi was, he was willing to accept the theory that Itachi was sick because of him.

(That Itachi did it because of Sasuke – everything. And Itachi's sick mind was for Sasuke, because Itachi's sick mind was _his._ Maybe it was something he dreamt, but he liked to believe that. He liked to believe that he owned Itachi's shell of humanity and every consequence of his carnal desires.)

A possibility that suggested the existence of someone else to experience Itachi's sickness too, someone to which Itachi _did things with_, shattered his sustainable theory of exceptionaltogether.

He didn't want it! This wasn't right; he didn't want to think that what happened that night was just a mere casual result of Itachi's lasciviousness and not something more… more…

(What if it was a mistake and Itachi had never wanted anything to do with him in the first place?)

"You're not going to answer me, _huh_?"

Sasuke had placed the sexual object beside him when he started to unbutton Itachi's pants, pulling the fabric down to the knees.

"I didn't use it with anyone, Sasuke." He finally answered.

Sasuke noticed, that glimmer of anxiety that crossed Itachi's eyes. He better be worried, because what he was about to experience was going to be painful.

"Don't lie to me you fucking bastard! Why is it open if you didn't use it?"

Boxers down to the knees, and Sasuke noticed the half-hardened length.

"You are really sick…"

Itachi swallowed dryly a soundless moan. He had a pretty good idea of what Sasuke planned to do to him, yet shamelessly he couldn't stop his body feeling somewhat aroused with the whole situation. It was Sasuke after all; the boy triggered in him carnal desires that no one else could.

On his side, Sasuke felt his blood rushing madly to his groin, as he observed his brother's body imprisoned so helplessly to the bed. A slight flush warming his prominent cheekbones, with his pants pulled down and his cock awakening in arousal. It was indeed a very erotic sight.

(In a sick way, of course.)

Suppressing the irrational desire of touch his brother's sex, Sasuke grasped a pillow and slid it under Itachi's hips, making his rear more assessable. He grabbed the large-sized dildo and, with a hand spacing the crease of the bared buttocks, he shoved it inside his brother brutally and pitilessly,

He eyed Itachi's face intensely, for a desirable expression.

Itachi flinched noticeably, grimacing in pain when the hard plastic object ripped through his anal muscles in one harsh thrust. He gulped a grunt as he felt the large dry dildo hitting deep and horribly inside him rectum – even worse was when Sasuke pulled it out shoved it inside again, this time deeper.

The object was so large that it was almost unbearable. Somewhere in the mist of all that aching, of dry muscles being stretched to a culminating point, Itachi mentally cursed Kisame for his idea of 'deep throat trainings' with extra-sized dildos just-in-case.

"Do you feel it? Do you feel how I felt, when you fucked me like that?"

Sasuke was uncontrolled, hysterical even. He kept violently pounding the huge object inside his brother, hoping to see Itachi screaming in pain. Intentionally or not, Itachi let out noisy grunts of clear pain, to which Sasuke grinned at, additionally registering how Itachi's erection had completely died.

Seeing the smeared threads of blood on the sex toy didn't make Sasuke stop brutally ravishing his brother's rear. But the anger was somehow vanishing, and those ill fantasies, meticulously confined in the rear of his mind, slowly began rouse at the circumstance – the image of his helpless nii-san, _violated_, suddenly began to oddly seem surreally pornographic. At this point, the avenger wasn't sure anymore if his brother was moaning in pain, or if it was him who moaned.

It scared him. He stopped, removed the object and tossed it aside violently.

Then he fell on top of his brother, panting and shivering, like a frightened child that had just awoken from a nightmare.

This was becoming insane. He was becoming insane.

(He didn't want this! He didn't want this anymore –no, no, no, no, NO-)

He hated the irony of life. Itachi's torso moved slowly now, with controlled breathings of pain and confusion. Sasuke, never once feeling so completely lost in his own world, started crying silently.

Itachi had feared this would happen – giving Sasuke the illusion of being inferior, he let him gain the apparent control that he had stolen the night he raped him. He hoped that, if Sasuke harbored no prevailing feelings for him anymore, that his brother could finally obtain his peace of mind, even if it was just an illusion. (An illusion is always more comforting than a real depression. Psychology is not that difficult to understand even by someone who barely had a feeling to share. Your mind just needs to _believe_, even if the world around you is still fake.)

Sasuke though, has lost his balance. He did not know how to handle control. Now he was falling deeply into the abyss of lies. Lies that had began as mere sketches, caused by Itachi's insecurities, are now becoming forms of monstrous proportions, Truly, it scared him quite a bit seeing little Sasuke violating him like that – not for him, but for what he still remembered of the boy's innocence.

The child inside was dying.

"Sasuke… release me."

The boy was sobbing now, cleaning his tears and snivel on his brother's naked torso. Sasuke didn't comply to his wish; instead he began to kiss his belly, faintly, still shivering. Fantasies took control now and the strength of his hate faded on him, leaving him vulnerable to Itachi's smell.

Oh, the smell…

The smell of his brother's clean body mixed with sweat; the smell of his sex, drew Sasuke like a magnet to his groin. He kissed the member, because he was now existing in his illusion, were his _nii-san _was perfect and kind and so beautiful…

He didn't kill them. Itachi loved him. This was his fantasy. Please do not interrupt his fantasy.

"Sasuke…"

"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed, yet his eyes were closed – the smell and the hardened member was all he needed to keep living his fantasy. Itachi couldn't do anything to him – he was handcuffed.

_(If he dominates the rapist, the rapist ceases to exist, and he can have his _nii-san_ back.)_

He wasn't aware that what he was initiating now, was real torture for Itachi. His rear was still sore (he still felt the cold dampness of drying blood on his muscle). Yet his frustrated arousal was growing agonizingly harder, as Sasuke kept teasing it, tormenting his imprisoned body.

Behind shut eyes, Sasuke let the fantasy open wings and he indulged himself in the taste of his concupiscence (he still _condemned_ it, this depraved sexual need born out of the link that the traitor craved for him, but his eyes were not open). Judgment was no use for him now, for he knew that his soul was decaying in ethics and the human beings' hypocrisy could no longer guide his confused mind. Maybe his curse was only the hormones – but how could his body deceive his sense of righteousness, and just when he was asked for justice!

Was he killing his family again, for doing this?

Itachi titled his head backwards, moaning as Sasuke sucked hungrily at his member. Pleasure was forced on his being in the most unexpected way. Half-despaired, for the first time he felt truly impotent, for not being able to decipher the meaning behind Sasuke's actions - but it was a request, no doubt about it. Sasuke was wordlessly requesting him to give him something, to respond to him in some way.

But how could he? He was handcuffed.

"Sasuke…aah…please, release me…"

Sasuke stopped, just to answer, bluntly:

"I can't. You're dangerous."

Still eyes wide shut. What was he imagining, Itachi wondered. Did he not want to see himself doing oral sex to his brother.

"I won't hurt you."

Sasuke had rested his head below Itachi's belly, breathing against the hardened member. He could stay like this, forever–

"Sasuke…"

"No…you never listen to me, _nii-san_…"

It was a whisper beneath a faint moan, and then Itachi saw his brother touching himself. Still locked into his own dimension, Sasuke's right hand caressed his swollen member, caring little about his brother's scrutinizing eyes. His body was adjusted in between Itachi's legs, with tufts of hair falling over Itachi's bared stomach like black muslin.

Sasuke wasn't even making an effort to hide his desires. Itachi could not help but to ponder, that of the two of them was more lost. Especially in a generation that could no longer put feelings into words.

And then Sasuke stood up. He opened his eyes, and he contemplated Itachi's aroused body with an apathetic expression, as if he had just woken up from a fifth dimension and he had yet to realize the world he belonged to. In a smooth movement, Sasuke was off the bed and at drawer, finding the key he closed it. Soon he was unlocking the pair of handcuffs, quite in a hurry to get the task done.

Itachi didn't complain for the obvious lack of care that Sasuke used to release the lock, leaving his thin skin scratched from the jagged metal. Massaging his wrists, he gazed at Sasuke's now motionless form, lying beside him facing the other way, curled against the corner of the bed.

He wondered how did things arrive to a point where he himself felt like a stranger in his own bed. With a dejected sight, he pulled his pants up, flinching slightly as he forced his erection into the clothed prison and ignored his still stinging anus.

Funny that Sasuke claimed that he didn't listen to him. When did his little brother ever say anything that Itachi had just bluntly ignored?

(Maybe he did. Itachi couldn't remember. Aah, guess he was too focused on listening to his own foolishness instead.)

As he surveyed Sasuke's quiet body, he noticed that he had closed his eyes again.

Not to sleep, though.

Obviously not to sleep.

Was he asking to be listened to, now? Shutting his eyes to have a better hearing, or…

_-Since when has he felt so clueless..?-_

"Teach me…" Itachi had put a wary hand on the boy's shoulder. Sasuke didn't flinch, nor tried to shrug it away. "...what do you want me to do…?"

A long sigh escaped from tempting lips as he waited to hear any word from the boy.

_Talk to me._

"I…"

Sasuke breathed hard, unsure if he should say it, but eventually he regained his courage. His eyes were shut anyway.

"I want you to touch me…."

It was like a whisper but Itachi heard it distinctively. Somewhat surprised, Itachi couldn't stop himself wondering if this was some sort of paradoxical rape-reverse consequence or if Sasuke always had those feelings. He hoped it was the last case.

"Would you…?" Sasuke asked again, this time louder. He stirred his body impatiently as if he was desperate for some sort of response from the older Uchiha."…slowly."

Itachi had once vowed not to touch the boy again, as last time's consequences turned out to be rather tragic. Yet if Sasuke dared to beget the same feelings, if he dared to feel what he felt – if he dared to pour water in his dried well and give him hope… Well then the older Uchiha feared that he may not be able to ever let go of him.

Yet, on the other hand…

_(His eyes were shut.)_

What if Sasuke was asking him to live fantasy – a sexual fantasy that regarded_ someone_, for him to have had the need to _not_ look at Itachi's face?

Itachi placed his lips on the crook of the boy's neck, kissing it gently, and Sasuke titled his head to give him more space.

"Are you sure…?"

"Just do it." Sasuke rasped. Fantasy or not, Sasuke kept his typical aggressiveness.

Itachi caught his chin between his fingers and turned his face to him, to which Sasuke complied. Lips touched and a rough kiss followed; Sasuke did not stop his tongue from returning his zeal – both of them were slowly giving up their minds up to lust. The burning passion was causing them to rub their clothed groins, as they sucked each other's tongues.

God he wanted this.

Sasuke had forgotten the purpose of his purposes to follow his inner desires, because otherwise his mind would just explode. Seeing nothing but the inside of his eyelids, his senses were heightened and he could better feel every aspect of Itachi being drowned into his being. His smell was everywhere now. He could hear the heartbeat of his brother and his hard breath. He felt Itachi's swollen crotch against his, in tamed movements of friction, and he knew, this time, it was different.

In a synchronized movement, their mouths parted and they started undressing in an unseen fury, as if the room's temperature had just increased spontaneously and all the clothing items had to be magnetized to the floor. Naked and fully aroused, they caught the other's lips again, and Itachi soon kissed the boy's jaw, neck and collarbones, leaving a trail of reddened marks and lustful moans.

It was different from that night – it was like how he wanted it to be.

Sasuke dared not to see Itachi's face yet, but he visualized it like he wanted him to be.

Itachi was loving his body.

It was different.

Itachi was again his beautiful older brother, and he loved him.

Itachi did not kill his family.

Itachi did not ravish him.

It was different, because this time, what they were doing, wasn't sick.

It wasn't sick because he kept his eyes closed.

_(-You only recognize what you see-)_

"Aah!"

Sasuke moaned loudly when he felt warm lips wrapping around his arousal, and instinctively reached for Itachi's head, grasping his hair roughly. The pleasure was overwhelming! He violently threw his head back and his mouth opened wide to let out a loud moan. He felt his cock being grasped by the tight walls of Itachi's throat, while a tongue pressed against the throbbing vein. Sasuke had to control himself not jerk his hips violently while Itachi bobbed his head up and down like his life depended on it.

As he was about to come, he pulled Itachi's head up, containing his orgasm. He whispered between hard breaths:

"Do it…I want you…"

Puzzlement, overjoyed, exhilaration – a jumble of feelings he didn't even remember to feel in sober times. Itachi only had time to quickly scrutinize the room for something that resembled a lubricant; there being none, he ran to the bathroom in such a hurry that one would thought he was afraid to miss the train. Half the bathroom contents landed on the floor until he found a bottle of Vaseline (had he ever bought it?) and ran back to the bed.

It saddened him a bit to see that Sasuke still refused to open his eyes, but… hope is a persisting feeling.

The elder resumed his position and traced kisses on the beautiful torso, from the navel to the nipple, loving the smell of his brother's skin. He circled his tongue around the pink flesh, sucking hard on the nipple, while lubed hands massaged the younger's erection and inserted fingers in a tensed orifice. He had found, long ago in that bathroom of their past home, that the noises and moans Sasuke emitted when he was enjoying the pleasure, had to be best sounds on Earth.

"Do it!"

Sasuke commanded and Itachi obeyed. He grabbed the bottle and spread more of the jellified liquid on his member, before positioning himself against his brother's entrance, grabbed the boy's hips. He then pushed very slowly, feeling his erection being swallowed by tight muscles, he controlled the urge to thrust it all the way. He saw Sasuke flinching, so he lifted his hips up a bit more to find a lesser painful angle.

A few half-thrusts and Sasuke restarted moaning and jerking his body against him.

"Harder!"

Sasuke was too close to his climax already – a novice in pleasure, Itachi had only himself to blame for not trying to protect his innocence (but what is innocence these days, but a mere adjournment of empiric knowledge?). Yet, maybe because he didn't want to let one of his brother's fantasies take the credit for the satisfaction that he was giving to him (or maybe because this, what they were doing together, meant so much more than whatever words he could ever express) he leaned over Sasuke's body, as he kept thrusting harder and harder, demanding,

"Open your eyes, Sasuke."

Sasuke insisted is denying the one in front of him, but moaned louder when he felt his brother's cock hit deeper inside of him. Then hearing the hot panting over him, the sound of his _nii-san_ feeling pleasure…

"Ngh…open…your eyes… _otouto_…"

Itachi grabbed his hair, more roughly than he had intended. That snapped Sasuke out of his darkness, causing eyes to open wide.

He came, noisily and messily over Itachi's abdomen, and the smiling face of his _nii-san_ blurred in ecstatic spasms in a full nirvanian experience. Itachi was smiling, saying something like "It's me" while Sasuke was still recovering from the bliss.

And Sasuke saw, that the Itachi that was in front of him, smiling so lovingly, was the same of his imagination.

He claimed Itachi's lips, still half-dazed from the orgasm, and kissed him intensely.

(Could life be beautiful again, if everything resumed itself back to this moment?)

He supposed that yes, it could.

To be forever just like this – excluding the World.

_(But does Itachi belong to this moment, or does he belong to the World, like mother and father and the burning house?)_

Breaking the kiss, Sasuke pushed his brother out of him and began collecting his clothes from the floor, dressing the items silently. His head was spinning and running a million thoughts an hour and he didn't want to deal with reality now, because it was too soon.

_-Don't think.-_

On his right Itachi sighed; he stood up and dressed himself, flinching, for the second time having to ignore a still frustrated erection.

(Sasuke came too soon, but it was still beautiful).

"Is there anything else…" Itachi allowed himself another attempt of convergence, humbly. "…we could do?"

Sasuke was prepared to leave the room without even saying a word, but he tensed at the question and stopped at the door.

'_Maybe I had put too much anxiety in the tone of voice'_, Itachi thought.

"Or…I could do?"

(-eight seconds of silence-)

'_Say you love me.'_

Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat and said "No."

And then he left.

.

.

* * *

(1) Traditional Japanese sword, similar but shorter than the _katana_. It was commonly worn together with the_ katana_ by the samurai in feudal Japan. Used to decapitate the defeated ones and/or commit _seppuku _(suicide). Sometimes used in battlefield (two-swords tactic pioneered by Miyamoto Musashi).


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for this hiatus. I hope you still remember this story :/

* * *

.

Chapter 16: Fight poison with poison

.

.

"Aren't you going to eat that?"

Itachi eyed the slice of _mikan_ pie in front of him, one that Kisame was flirting with his eyes. Sweets at breakfast were not something his stomach liked to digest.

"No. You can have it." He was never fond of pies either.

Greedily, Kisame grabbed Itachi's plate and started devouring the slice like a starving beast. It was noticeable that Kisame didn't have parents that taught him etiquette manners, or even eating manners, as he looked like anything but a human being when he was eating.

"If you didn't want it why did you order it?" And he talked with his mouth full.

"You ordered it for me."

Kisame shrugged and didn't bother to reply. He finished eating the tasty pie, sucking the rest off his finger, and grinned in satisfaction. "The cream wasn't whipped very well."

Itachi suppressed a yawn and glanced at his partner, not really sure of what he meant by that statement. "You're talking about the pie?" He asked, half-interested in his answer.

"Hu-huh. I could make a much better mikan pie than this shit with my eyes closed."

Itachi lifted an eyebrow, and Kisame noticed his sudden interest with a grin.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Itachi-san." He replied, seeing surprise stamped on his partner's face. "A prisoner taught me how to make pies, when I was a prison guard."

The Uchiha yawned discreetly, and supporting his head on a bended arm, he uttered: "I didn't know you were a prison guard."

"Fun times." Kisame had a somewhat nostalgic smile on his face. "You know that guy that escaped from prison in 2003?"

There was a glimpse of excitement shining in his wide open eyes. Itachi was still a young teenager back then, but he remembered discussing the news with Fugaku. "He was confined in a solitary cell, if I recall. Convicted for murdering his wife. Authorities never discovered how he managed to escape."

"And they never will." Kisame picked up a napkin to clean his mouth. "It was thanks to me, you know? He gave me a purpose in life."

He was obviously proud of his deed. Even Itachi was impressed. He never gave much credit to Kisame's mental abilities, but to be able to pull off such a clean break successfully, it was definitely unexpected, even for your common genius. Though I didn't need to ask to know that the plan certainly came from the inmate, and Kisame just played along with it. And most probably there must have been some kind of help from one or two other guards, as the prison's surveillance system is extremely tight for death row prisoners. How did he…?

"You want to hear about my purpose in life?"

Itachi's thoughts were interrupted by a grinning Kisame, dying to tell his partner about his motivations. He'd rather hear about how that prisoner managed to escape, but he let the man talk about what he wanted. He took a glance at the wall clock above the milk shake machine, and suppressed another yawn. His sleeping habits were a mess. He hadn't felt this tired for a long time.

"I want to be a pie-maker."

"What?" Itachi repositioned himself in his seat, and decided to pay more attention to his friend's revelation. Well, he wasn't sleepy anymore.

"I love pies, but confectioneries here don't have a good variety of pies. You always find more cakes and sweets instead of pies! One day, I'll open a confectionery that sells the best pies in Japan."

"Only pies?"

"Yeah! If you have good pies of all tastes, you don't need anything else! Making delicious pies is an art, you know? I mean, cake isn't more than a grip of sugar and other caloric ingredients; pie is sophisticated, it's like a fancy dessert."

So, this was the purpose of life that ingenious prisoner gave to Kisame.

"I still prefer cake."

"That's because you haven't tasted a good pie yet! One day you'll try one of my pies and I bet you'll change your mind."

"Hm."

"I'm serious man! In fact, I'll offer you the recipe of the first pie I sell."

"That's generous of you." Itachi took another glance at the wall clock. It was time. "I'm going to the bathroom. Wait here."

"Wait, now? We have a meeting with Madara in half an hour, don't take too long!"

Sighing, Itachi looked at Kisame with a serious expression. "I'll probably take a while, Kisame. If we run late I'll explain to Madara. Don't worry."

He left his seat, ignoring one of Kisame's childish comments. Walking through the _kisaten_'s costumers, too concerned in chewing greasy hamburgers and sugary milkshakes, he spotted the bathroom doors. The café itself wasn't big but it prevailed in length, the bathroom being across the machines arcade games.

Once inside the empty white rectangular space he counted the third cabin from the entrance and entered inside, closing the door behind him.

"How did you find out about my past in North Korea, Itachi?"

It was unusual to see Pein without his piercings on his face. His bright orange hair was covered by a black hood, his face was paler and thinner than he remembered, and with those new black circles around his pale eyes, Itachi would hardly be able to tell him from the average junkie if he saw him on the streets.

"Madara."

The man without piercings chuckled in amusement. "The old man knows more than I ever thought. Rather scary, don't you think?"

Itachi just stared at him in expectation. He still didn't know if contacting Pain was an intelligent or a stupid move of him.

"Are you being followed?" Pein asked.

"I have two of Madara's dogs waiting outside."

"Then we shouldn't take long."

With leather-clad hands, Pein removed from inside his jacket a couple of folded paper sheets, wrinkled with the usage, and unfolded them before the younger's suspicious eyes.

"Madara has a black case I want. He keeps it safe in a bank strongbox."

"And you want me to get it for you."

Pein smirked. Itachi frowned.

"How do you expect me to do that?"

"I don't know, Itachi-kun. You're the prodigy. You tell me." And then he added, still with a mockery tone. "Madara is quite fond of you. I'm sure it won't be that difficult."

Itachi flinched when he heard someone entering inside the bathroom and moving to the urinals. In a second Pein decided to adopt a new position and got up from the toilet seat to trap the Uchiha between his body, pressing him against the tile wall. Itachi glared at him and grabbed his shirt collar, and by that time another person was entering in the bathroom.

"It would be less suspicious if we look like a couple, don't you think?"

He felt the older man's smirk under his earlobe, and the heavy scent of Cuban cigars emanating from his skin. He had certainly been with Madara before he came to meet him there.

One of the persons on the other side commented "_Get a room, fags_!" in English, before he left the bathroom. It looked like an American tourist.

Itachi stilled, letting Pein's body press against his indecently, yet the orange-haired didn't attempt to go any further intimately.

"I see you have been spending time with Madara." Itachi commented. "What makes you think he will trust me enough to give me access to the suitcase?"

Pein chuckled, and then he whispered in his ear: "Do you think I look like you, Itachi?" He did not wait for any response from the inquired, as soon he proceeded: "Madara used to make me wear a wig when he played with me. I was sixteen the first time…" He nuzzled his nose against Itachi's ear, and the other cringed uncomfortably. "When I first saw you, you were sixteen too. I thought you looked a lot like my reflex on the mirror…"

He chuckled.

"I got angry. I pierced my face, and Madara got angry. But you know what? I now realize it wasn't you who looked so much like my reflection in the mirror, when Madara played with me." He eyed Itachi with an enigmatic smirk. "I never realized this before, but you look a lot like Izuna too, Itachi."

Outside, another rude comment was heard, then the last man in the urinals finally left the bathroom. Pein stepped backwards, leaving Itachi adjusting his tie and his shirt.

"I would be more interested in knowing what you are capable of doing regarding Orochimaru's case." Itachi uttered sharply.

Pein smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning his back against the wall.

"I can create a fictional link between him and America's CIA. I just need Konan and a computer in front of her."

"Konan?"

"How do you think Akatsuki's capital rose so high in just a few months?" He inquired, but he didn't add anything else. Itachi wasn't feeling like asking either. "Of course, it would be highly inconvenient if Madara found out." He continued.

"And the black case…?"

"Oh, it's just Madara's bank accounts and all the other secured info I would need when I take over Madara's position."

Itachi lifted an eyebrow. Curious character, that Pein was. Up until now he thought he was just Madara's fuck toy, but apparently, all this time he was just waiting for the perfect moment to stab Madara's back.

"Get me the black case, Itachi. That is my condition, if you want Orochimaru dead."

"I don't see how a simple hacking scam will trick North Korea's authorities. Orochimaru is highly regarded by Kim Jong-il."(1)

Pein laughed. "I don't know what lie Orochimaru told to your father, but the truth is he is nothing but Kim Jong-il's underdog. It only takes one Supreme Leader to lightly suspect that he is a spy for the American government, and Orochimaru's heaven on earth turns into hell. Of course, they will eventually find out that the information is fake, but by then it will be too late."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "You're sure?"

"You don't know how their policy works, do you? They never make mistakes. 'Officially', that is." Still smiling, he raised his right arm and stretched his hand in front of Itachi. The other just stood still, looking blankly at his opened hand. "It's how the Westerners do it. To close the deal."

Itachi stretched his right hand, and let Pein give him a tight hand-shake.

"Then you shall leak that false information only when Orochimaru is in North Korea, to prevent any possible flee." Itachi stated.

"I know. I believe he's going there at the beginning of next month. That doesn't give you much time, you better start now."

Nodding his head, Itachi prepared to leave the bathroom cubicle, but when he grabbed the doorknob Pein halted his moves, again: "But I trust you'll do a good job on this Itachi."

'_He is quite a talker._' He thought, annoyed. He wondered if Kisame was getting suspicious of his prolonged bathroom time. Or perhaps he was hyperventilating, predicting Madara's wrath when they arrive late at the meeting.

"You do?"

"I know how badly you want to get rid of Orochimaru." He smirked. "Before I escaped from North Korea, I used to work at the only brothel he owns there. Fortunately I was too young for his tastes, but there was this older kid, fourteen or so, that spent a night with him… he died a couple days after of internal bleeding."

A chill swirled down Itachi's spine, and he found himself gripping harder the doorknob. He had heard rumors about that man's sadistic fetishes before, always with boys between the ages of eleven and fifteen, but he never paid them much attention before Sasuke became Orochimaru's obsession.

"When I saw your little brother… he reminded me of him."

In a violent move, Itachi pushed the man against the tiled wall, pressing his arm against his neck. "When did you see Sasuke? Did Madara order you to spy on him?"

Pein had jolted his hands to Itachi's crushing arm reflexively, trying to find some room to breathe. "I only saw the photos." He answered, with a cocky smirk. "Your house has been closely watched since the day you moved in. Haven't you noticed?"

* * *

Madara had changed the decorations of his penthouse. The Roman revivals mixed with a dark Victorian style of the Western were replaced with Persian tapestry, low Turkish-style seats and about three hundred pillows of different sizes and shapes spread around the floor. The illumination had changed too. For a man that had always lived in the dark, Itachi was surprised to find a sudden bright room, punctuated with golden artifacts and gilded brocades in every piece of silk that clad the furniture.

This wasn't just out of random whim, Itachi knew that. Madara was preparing for something big, something that involved his Middle East affairs.

That man was becoming monstrously powerful. And if Itachi had to guess, he would say that it had something do to with one thing: the attractive oil market in Saudi Arabia.

"You were late."

After the brief meeting, Madara had dismissed the other five members except for Kisame and Itachi.

"It was my fault." Itachi stated. He bowed, humbly. "My apologies."

Madara sniffed in discontent. To match his newly interior decoration, he was wearing a long Turkish tunic, in red silk and gilded arabesque brocades, looking like someone who had arrived from a journey to Iran. Give him a camera and Madara would be just like your average Japanese tourist.

"It's always your fault, Itachi." He said, yet his eyes were fixed on Kisame, for some reason. "And what about you, Kisame? Why don't you explain to me why you're late?"

Kisame gasped, and stammered something unintelligible. Beneath the hard muscled exterior and the intimidating height, Kisame had always been terrified of Madara. He even confessed to Itachi once that his worst fear was being put in the place of those unlucky fellows that were caught disobeying Madara's orders, since the time had the 'pleasure' to assist one of the punishing lessons. Don't get him wrong; it was fun and all, but Kisame would rather kill himself than be in the tortured one's shoes. He admitted he was faint-hearted, and hell he wasn't some masochist like that lunatic named Hidan-or-something! That guy was a complete wacko; he told him once that he asked his lover to cut his leg off for some kind of sadistic ritual. And he had an orgasm. He said that high levels of pain can make the brain produce some sort of chemical that's similar to when you have an orgasm.

He had a prosthetic leg now. Wacko.

"Cat got your tongue?" Madara's serious expression didn't change. Which was bad. Very bad. "Well then, I'll take three fingers. Which ones would you like to keep, Kisame?"

Itachi found Madara's attitude quite strange. Warnings coupled with body mutilation were for Akatsuki's lower workers, never for the official members. It was even inconvenient, especially in Kisame's case, who was skilled in using two guns at the same time to threaten Chinese drug dealers.

"I ordered Kisame to wait for me." Itachi stepped forward. Instinctively, Kisame stepped behind him, as if the Uchiha was a viable shield against Madara's wrath.

"And what was so important that it retained you for so long?"

Itachi frowned. Naturally he couldn't snitch about Pein, and it's not like Madara believed in excuses. What was more alarming; this was the first time that Madara decided to physically punish their lateness, and Itachi should've foreseen it.

Through the corner of his eye he saw Kisame's skin tone change to a shade of green. Unbelievable, he had never seen his partner so frightened. What should he do to get him out of this situation? He didn't want to lose Kisame's trust – he had enough people playing against him. A simple excuse wouldn't work on Madara. Perhaps an embarrassing one would.

"I was stuck in the bathroom." Itachi dry-swallowed. Even though it was a lie, it was still embarrassing, especially when Kisame was in the room and didn't know what happened.

"Why?"

"I…" He closed his eyes. Kisame had better appreciate him for this. "…I had an intestine-related problem."

Madara's eyes widened in surprise. He heard Kisame choking on a contained laugh, and he knew that a month of childish jokes about his intestinal functioning was now waiting for him.

Unable to hide an amused chuckle, Madara stated: "Kisame, you know that when I make a threat, I never take it back."

Kisame's mood changed again.

Madara smirked. "This is your lucky day. You're dismissed. Take the opportunity to place a bet on today's horse-race. Now get out."

* * *

Sometimes Sasuke would like to understand the true purpose of the human being in this world. It isn't to love, he was sure of that- love and marriage are nothing but tools to give men authorized sexual relief, and control the borderline anarchy of hormonal-driven teenagers. Love does not mean paradise; it's just a post-modern term to define the historical human need of possession and control over someone else. Love is powerful because it urges you to own one's entire affection; it urges you to make one's life yours entirely. Love is nothing but a romanticized form of possession of goods.

That was something Itachi had said once. Not to him, but to his friend Shisui, who asked him why he didn't want to marry Mai. Sasuke didn't know why he was remembering something like that at that moment.

Kakashi was looking through a huge pile of papers for something that supposedly deserved Sasuke's time, but until now his one-month-or-so investigation only confirmed that he was the most unorganized detective Sasuke had ever seen. Fortunately he bought a new fan for his office that shoved his cigarette smoke to the window, and Sasuke could breathe freely without feeling like he was trapped inside a chimney. The man still smoked like his life depended on it, though.

"Here." He removed a small block of papers under the second pile of unorganized information, and flipped through the pages until he found what he wanted. "I looked through the police report and forensic analyses. They say they traced the presence of an ethylene glycol-based solution in a bucket in the backyard, and they concluded it was used as an accelerator to spread the fire on the first floor. Apparently they ruled out the servants as potentially conspirers for the murder, even though the kitchen door was unlocked and they survived the fire."

Sasuke frowned. "Are you going to tell me something I don't already know?"

Ignoring his remark, Kakashi continued his report.

"The second floor wasn't bathed with the accelerator, providing enough time for the people there to jump through the windows. And that was the problem."

"What do you mean?"

There was this odd look on Kakashi's face, like he wasn't sure if he should reveal the details of the accident. Wait, it wasn't an accident. It was a murder.

"By opening one of the windows, it allowed the air outside to enter inside the house and feed the fire."

It was a murder.

"So what, you said the fire had already spread through the house because of that solution. It was Itachi who did it."

"I'm not saying otherwise, but you asked me to get all the facts straight. I spoke to a fire specialist, and he told me that even with that solution, there was still chance of people running upstairs and escaping from there. But the moment an air source was introduced in the house, the flames increased exponentially, leaving the others with no chance of escaping from there unless they were close to that window. Which wasn't the case, apparently."

"I don't understand it…you're saying the solution was irrelevant, what killed my family was the fact that my brother had to open a window to escape?"

"I'm not saying that the solution was irrelevant." Kakashi sighed. "It contributed, but it wasn't the fatal instigator. But there's something else: there were two people who died on the second floor, even though they also had the chance to escape. One of them died in a room without windows, which is quite odd. The detectives on the case apparently didn't feel the need to perform an autopsy on their bodies, even though they weren't as burnt out as the other bodies. They just stopped their investigation after they found that bucket."

"What's so special about them?"

"It would probably prove that they were killed before the fire, just like the bodyguards."

Sasuke didn't reply, letting the silence interval Kakashi's relevance. His mind was racing in high speed with this new information, digging the faces of the past, wondering why, why why.

"Their names were Nakayama Mai and Uchiha Shisui. What can you tell me about them?"

He didn't know if he should feel surprised or not. As he provided all the information and details he remembered about their relationship with Itachi, he couldn't help to wonder if Itachi killed them first in a compassion act to prevent them having a more painful death through burning. But that sounded ridiculous, because compassion was not in Itachi's character. Maybe they somehow found out their plan and he just silenced them.

Kakashi seemed very interested in hearing how he was framed by Mai for something he still didn't understand, and how Shisui covered for her. He still thought about it, but it was kind of pointless now since they were dead.

"She asked for your shirt?" He questioned, scribbling something in his notebook.

"She said she wanted my shirt to test for the contamination of lead residues or something, I didn't really understand her. I just took it off and gave it to her, and before I had time to grab another she was running out of my room screaming like crazy."

Kakashi kept asking more details, as he wrote down everything Sasuke managed to remember with rapt attention; from the nature of Mai and Itachi's relationship to Fugaku's reaction, and then to Orochimaru and the North Korea deal – and his engagement to the Hyuuga heir.

"Why do you think your brother saved you?"

What? What kind of question was that?

He should've made a clause in the contract of do not ask non-answerable questions that forced Sasuke to think of things he didn't want to think of. Because he knew the difference between reality's facts, and this illusion that his subconscious and Itachi built. But Sasuke won't forget what happened to their past ghosts.

He refused to think about it. What happened between them – he didn't want to even consider.

(-If Itachi loved him.)

"What if…." Sasuke opened his mind but he quickly regretted it, and diverted his eyes to the window.

"Don't be afraid of asking. What if what?"

"Nothing…"

Sasuke lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling extremely tired as if he hadn't slept for days after spending an entire decade searching for empty answers.

What if Itachi didn't do it?

But he knew that question was tagged to another empty answer, and the root of the problem stopped being Itachi the moment he realized he still dreamt of a future with him. There was a part of him that was willing to throw away everything that went wrong between them, and that was what disgusted him the most.

"Well, regardless…" Kakashi spoke, leaning back on the chair and lighting another cigarette. "Everything seems to point to Itachi as the prime suspect. I've been looking at his bank accounts…"

God, he was tired. He just wished he could stop everything. Stop the investigation. Stop Kakashi from digging more into his life and finding out things he didn't need to know. Stop the world running around. Go back in time to where their parents were still alive and Itachi was… Itachi.

"Sasuke, did you hear me?"

"Hn?"

"As I was saying, this evidence alone won't hold long enough in court. I need an ultimate proof."

He sighed. "What proof?"

"Something material. The fire burned everything down to ashes. But humans are materialist by nature, and even the most detached criminal mind likes to take a souvenir. Itachi must've brought something from your house before and keep it somewhere."

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi leaned on the table again, smashing his half-smoked cigarette in the already full ash-tray. He bent his arms over the secretary and rested his chin on his hands.

"Anything. It can be a picture of your parents, or a collector's item that he didn't want to lose in the fire. The fact that he stored an item from your house somewhere would help proving that he was aware of the fire before it happened."

.

.

* * *

(1) North Korea's Supreme Leader.


End file.
